Chelsea welcome London rivals Arsenal to Stamford Bridge for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.
Liam Rosenior guided his side to a 5-1 win over Championship outfit Charlton Athletic in his first game in charge on Saturday evening, having been appointed as the successor to Enzo Maresca who departed the club earlier this month.
Rosenior’s first Premier League match in charge of the Blues will be another London derby, this time against Brentford on Saturday.
In the meantime, it has emerged that one of Chelsea’s former players is close to joining one of their fiercest rivals.
As per journalist Fabrizio Romano, Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher is set to complete a permanent transfer to Tottenham Hotspur.
The 25-year-old joined Atletico from boyhood club Chelsea in the summer of 2024, having made a total of 95 appearances for the Blues.
Since moving to Spain, the Englishman has scored seven goals and provided the same number of assists in 77 matches across all competitions.
Gallagher looks set to join Tottenham (Photo: Maciej Rogowski/Alamy)
Despite this, Romano claims that the central midfielder has informed his current club of his desire to join the Lilywhites.
Spurs are said to have agreed a fee of around £35 million to sign the player, with the north London outfit having beaten Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the race to land Gallagher.
Villa were said to have agreed a deal with their Spanish counterparts to sign the player, but the Villans have left the race to land Gallagher as the midfielder did not approve the switch to Villa Park.
Gallagher’s current contract with Atleti is set to expire in the summer of 2029, but it appears increasingly likely that he will depart the Spanish capital and return to London before the end of the January transfer window.