Chelsea have accepted a bid from Atlético Madrid for Conor Gallagher. The England midfielder is in the final year of his contract and the Blues are keen to sell rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer. Atlético’s offer is thought to be worth up to €40m (£33.7m), some way short of the £50m Chelsea had hoped to receive at the start of the summer. However, any fee for Gallagher goes down as pure profit because he is an academy product, an important factor in the context of profitability and sustainability rules. Gallagher has previously indicated a willingness to stay at his boyhood club if the conditions for a transfer do not meet his requirements and must decide whether to move to Atlético, who will play in the Champions League for a 12th consecutive season under Diego Simeone. He has rejected Chelsea’s offer of a new contract. Gallagher, who has also attracted interest from Tottenham and Aston Villa this summer, started 37 of Chelsea’s Premier League games last season, missing the other because of suspension. He captained the team in the majority of those matches. Arsenal have made a €30m bid for Mikel Merino which is expected to be accepted by Real Sociedad. Arsenal are trying to see off interest from Barcelona in the Spain midfielder, who was part of the squad that won Euro 2024. He appeared in every match but started only the final group game against Albania. Mikel Arteta wants to make the 28-year-old, whose age sets him apart from many of the club’s recent outfield signings, his third major buy of the summer after Riccardo Calafiori and the goalkeeper David Raya. Merino has Premier League experience from a spell with Newcastle in 2017-18.