Valencia sporting director Miguel Angel Corona has had some interesting things to say about Atletico Madrid’s deal to sign Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.
Atletico Madrid were interested in Valencia’s Javi Guerra, but the Spanish club now look set to sign Conor Gallagher instead.
While Gallagher is closing in on a move to Atletico, Chelsea are about to bring Samu Omorodion in from Diego Simeone’s side.
According to the reliable Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have won the race for Omorodion after German champions Bayer Leverkusen and others also tried to sign him.
He should take some of the pressure off Nicolas Jackson, who played just under 45 games last season.
Valencia sporting director Miguel Angel Corona discusses Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher deal
The reason why Valencia and their sporting director Corona are so invested in Atletico’s deal for Gallagher is because their Spanish rivals were also keen on Guerra.
However, it was one or the other for Atletico, who are now expected to end up with Gallagher. But Corona has claimed that Atletico tried to pull out of the Gallagher deal in order to sign Guerra.
“What happened with Atletico is that there was a maximum agreement on Sunday between the president and the largest shareholder of Atletico de Madrid,” the Valencia director was quoted as saying by AS.
“On Monday the documentation is developed with a closed agreement. On Wednesday morning we asked the owner of Atletico de Madrid, and they answered that they want to get out of the Gallagher operation.
“We decided to leave there because we did not have the information that the operation was binding. Javi Guerra and we withdrew from the negotiation. On Monday they told us, ‘Don’t worry, we are leaving the Gallagher operation, our only objective is Javi Guerra.'”
Whatever the case, the 24-year-old will be a welcome addition at the Civitas Metropolitano, with Diego Simeone spearheading the move for Gallagher.
Marc Guiu could follow Conor Gallagher to Spain
Chelsea only signed Marc Guiu from Barcelona this summer, but it would not be a surprise to see him follow Gallagher back to Spain.
Enzo Maresca will have Jackson and Omorodion as his main striker options for the new season, meaning that Guiu is likely to see little game time.
Considering that, the 18-year-old may need to leave the club on loan. Earlier in the transfer window, there was talk about Chelsea loaning Guiu to Sevilla. Perhaps they could be one option for the young forward if he does have to depart Stamford Bridge temporarily.
Guiu doesn’t have a set figure of goals he wants to score if he remains in west London for the 2024/25 campaign.
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