Enzo Maresca confirms Chelsea star won’t play vs Man City due to transfer row

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has confirmed Conor Gallagher will not be considered for selection against Manchester City on Sunday with his proposed move to Atletico Madrid hanging in the balance.

Gallagher, who captained the Blues for much of last season in the absence of Reece James, has entered the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge.

He looked set to complete a move to Atletico Madrid last week in a £34.5million deal and was staying in a hotel in Madrid as he awaited final confirmation of the switch.

But the collapse of Chelsea’s move for Atletico striker Samu Omorodion halted Gallagher’s transfer with the England international returning to the UK this week.

His proposed move could now rest on whether Chelsea can agree a deal with Atletico over Joao Felix, who previously spent six months on loan at Stamford Bridge during the 2022-23 season.

Reports this week claimed Gallagher was set to resume training with the club’s Under-21 side alongside fellow outcasts Trevoh Chalobah and Romelu Lukaku.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s Premier League opener against champions Manchester City, Maresca confirmed Gallagher will not be considered for selection and hopes for a ‘happy’ outcome to the transfer saga for all concerned.

‘Conor is back and training a little bit apart. He is doing some medical tests and some training and he won’t be involved for this game,’ Maresca said.

‘Also because in this moment, he is trying to find the solution with the club so we’ll see what happens.

‘I said many times since we started, unfortunately these kinds of things happen every summer… all the clubs have some problems because players that want to leave, clubs want players to leave.

‘But in the end, it finishes with all of them happy so hopefully for Conor, his situation ends with everyone happy.’

Chelsea currently have 43 players listed in their first-team squad following 10 new arrivals this summer. Ahead of what could be a frantic end to the summer transfer window, Maresca reiterated he is not the man responsible for player departures, keeping his focus solely on the training pitch.

‘We have been 20 days in America with 28 to 29 players so it’s been good in terms of managing the squad,’ Maresca said.

‘Now there are guys that aren’t involved in the squad, they’re training apart. At the moment, it’s not difficult, also because if I start to think that I have 43 players, probably it’s not a good thing.

‘I finished a session just now and I’m already thinking about tomorrow’s session. It’s the only thing I like to control.’