Diego Simeone personally assured Conor Gallagher that he remains desperate for the midfielder to sign for Atletico Madrid before Gallagher boarded his flight back to London.
Gallagher returned to England on Tuesday night with his £33.7 million move to Atletico in limbo, following the collapse of Samu Omorodion’s switch to Chelsea.
But Telegraph Sport can reveal that Atletico manager Simeone got in touch with Gallagher just ahead of his return to the UK to reassure the England international that he still wants him at Estadio Metropolitano this season.
Simeone wanted to make sure that Gallagher did not return to England in any doubt over whether or not he wanted him and to make sure he knows how highly he is rated.
Gallagher passed an Atletico medical and contracts between the Spanish club and Chelsea were prepared for completion before the move stalled.
Simeone is now desperate for his club to find a solution and complete the signing of Gallagher, as Atletico try to find a new buyer for Omorodion and attempt to sell Joao Felix, who has been offered to Chelsea, to raise cash.
That desperation is shared by thousands of Atletico supporters who posted messages with the hashtag ‘GallagherRojiblanco’, which means ‘Gallagher red and white’ on social media.
While Atletico are annoyed that Chelsea did not complete their move for Omorodion that would have allowed them to push through Gallagher’s switch, there is frustration from sources connected to the deal that the Spanish club spent so heavily on striker Julián Álvarez, who cost £81.5 million from Manchester City, after agreeing to sign Gallagher.
Gallagher was due to return to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on Wednesday afternoon, where he is likely to undergo fitness tests away from head coach Enzo Maresca’s first-team squad.
It will then be up to Chelsea and Maresca whether or not Gallagher is integrated back into first-team training or whether he has to join the likes of Trevoh Chalobah with the development squad.
Gallagher had been warned that he would not be able to train with the first team after turning down the same contract offer twice, if he did not agree a move away from Chelsea this summer.
Other than negotiating with Atletico over Gallagher and Felix, Chelsea are watching the situations of a number of strikers and forwards, including Napoli’s Victor Osimhen.
Napoli want to sign Romelu Lukaku, who has been training with Chelsea’s Under-21s, but Osimhen’s wage demands along with the Italian club’s valuation of him remain a hurdle to overcome.
