Conor Gallagher will fly back from Madrid this evening amid the possibility of his planned move to Atletico Madrid collapsing. 

The Blues academy product has been in Spain for the last five days with the finer points of a £33.7million move to the capital being worked out between his boyhood club and the LaLiga big beasts. 

But Atletico will need to offload one of their own players to complete the deal and sign Gallagher, after a blockbuster summer which has seen them tempt Julian Alvarez away from Manchester City. 

Gallagher is thought to have been told that he will only be a rank-and-file squad player as part of new manager Enzo Maresca's set-up at Stamford Bridge. 

However, as he remains a Chelsea player, the club are believed to have told the player to return to England while talks continue.  

Conor Gallagher will head back to England to bide his time before a hoped-for move to Spain

Chelsea have been courting a number of Atletico players and looked to be the answer to the club's prayers. 

The west London hierarchy have been eyeing a move for young forward Samu Omorodion to the tune of £34.5m. 

But at the 11th hour the 20-year-old reportedly called off the move - only for Chelsea to reignite their interest in former loan signing Joao Felix. 

The Portugal starlet previously spent the latter half of the 2022-23 season at Stamford Bridge, but was deemed to be surplus to requirements but then-incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino. 

The two clubs are once again in conversation about the 24-year-old, who scored four goals in his 20 games in Chelsea blue. 

Felix - who is thought to be valued by Chelsea at £55million - was previously offered as a makeweight to Man City as the sides thrashed out an initial £64m deal for Alvarez, on the heels of his loan season at Barcelona last term. 

Felix became the fourth-most expensive player in history in July 2019 when Benfica sold him to Atletico for £114m.

The Portugal international has featured for Diego Simeone's side in pre-season but his future remains uncertain.

Should Atletico not be able to see out a deal with the Premier League side, Chelsea could be left with a resentful figure in the dressing room which feels increasingly cramped. 

The Blues have played a highly active role in the transfer window thus far, and look to bring yet more players into the side as Maresca bolsters his attacking ranks. 

Most recently, Chelsea announced the £54m signing of Pedro Neto from Wolves, confirming his move south during half-time in their 1-1 friendly against Inter Milan on Sunday. 

The winger's arrival brings the west London club's squad total up to an eye-popping 43 players, with 10 signings being brought in during this window alone.