Conor Gallagher appeared to purpose a delicate dig at Chelsea when reflecting on his first month as an Atletico Madrid following completion of a £34m switch.
Gallagher’s departure from Stamford Bridge in August mirrored that of Mason Mount’s a 12 months earlier, with Chelsea unable to agree a brand new contract with the home-grown midfielder and preferring to not threat dropping him as a free agent when his deal was resulting from expire in 2025.
Because of the England worldwide being a Cobham graduate, a giant cash sale got here with the added bonus of the payment being thought of ‘pure revenue’ within the eyes of Revenue & Sustainability Guidelines.
It was beforehand reported that Chelsea had solely supplied Gallagher a two-year contract with the choice of a 3rd. It got here with a sizeable pay rise however the size paled into insignificance in comparison with different contracts within the squad that run to 2030 or past. He turned it down, twice.
So when Gallagher scored his first Atletico aim over the weekend and instructed The Athletic a couple of days later that he has “felt very wished and appreciated” since transferring to Madrid, followers could not assist however suppose not less than a part of that referred to the top of his time at Chelsea.
“[It] is essential for any footballer,” he stated of feeling valued by his membership.
Gallagher, who spent 18 years as a Chelsea participant – most of his life, additionally appears to have little drawback in speaking about Atletico being a step up for his profession.
“Chelsea are an enormous soccer membership, one of many greatest on the earth, together with Atletico. However I’ve taken that thrilling step of taking part in Champions League soccer and difficult for trophies. It simply builds me with much more confidence and happiness to play my greatest soccer,” he stated.
