Did you think this was going to be a quiet Sunday night? Think again
Not only do we have tonight’s news about Conor Gallagher’s move to Atletico being in question, there’s also apparently fresh interest from the Blues in Joao Felix. Oh, and Samu Omorodion’s transfer is off too.
Fabrizio Romano is tonight exclusively reporting that Chelsea and Atletico are discussing Joao Felix as a makeweight in the deal taking Gallagher to Madrid, which is stalling. The deal taking Omorodion’s collapse has left Atleti short of cash to pay for Gallagher, and also puts their vital swoop for Julian Alvarez in doubt.
All these transfers are delicately poised and interdependent. Omorodion’s rejection of Chelsea’s contract offers could end up collapsing a £250m house of cards when fees and wages are all accounted for.
The inclusion of Felix would help the Spanish side desperately, and there will certainly be some temptation. The Portuguese was a divisive figure in his time at Chelsea.
A bad idea that sporting directors may have convinced themselves is good
We’ll say the same to the Felix idea as we’d say to the Pedro Neto transfer that was conf
with Neto now on the books, there’s even less need for Felix. Unless Enzo Maresca is specifically requesting him, and we can’t really see why he would given he’s got plenty to work with, we can’t see why Felix would be of interest at all. These sporting directors had a go with Felix before and didn’t seem too impressed.
It would only be out of desperation to get Gallahger off the books before he can walk for free – are we really going to get held over a Felix shaped barrel to get rid of a good and popular player? Sometimes you’ve got to know when to cut your losses in a deal…