The Chelsea transfer merry-go-round continued at pace on Wednesday as Joao Felix completed his Stamford Bridge return from Atletico Madrid while Conor Gallagher finally sealed his move to the Spanish side. Felix made 20 appearances in all competitions during a six-month spell with the London outfit in the second half of the 2022-23 season in what was generally considered to be an underwhelming spell. But the 24-year-old Portugal forward rejoins in a reported £45 million deal that helped facilitate England midfielder Gallagher's move in the opposite direction. Felix spent last term on loan at Barcelona, scoring 10 times in 44 games for the Catalan side. "It's a chance for me to find a home," he told Chelsea's website. "After two loans, Chelsea and Barca, I needed to stay permanently in one place. There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea. I see a perfect place to shine. "It was a little bit of a lot of things that made me want to come back: the project, the club, the league, the fans, the time I spent here that I loved. I felt really good when I was here, despite the results we had. I'm really happy to be back. "I've developed as a player in a lot of ways: the perception of the game, and the spaces the ball can arrive easily where I can make more impact. I try to figure it out by watching some videos of me of my games. "I've kind of changed since I was last here. I'm 24 now. I'll be 25 in November. I feel like I grew up as a player. That's normal with age. I'm more prepared for the Premier League. "I feel like my best years are ahead of me. I have no doubt about that. The best years are still to come. And this year is going to be a good year, because now I am permanently at home, and I can enjoy home." Earlier, Gallagher completed his permanent transfer after an intended move to Atletico collapsed last week when Chelsea were unable to agree a deal for their striker Samu Omorodion. Gallagher had trained alone since returning to Chelsea last week after being pictured in Spain ahead of his proposed £33m transfer. Last season Gallagher played 50 games for Chelsea, regularly wearing the captain's armband in the absence of Reece James. The 24-year-old won the 2019 Europa League with Chelsea and leaves the London side after 95 appearances and 10 goals. "To everyone at Chelsea, thank you for making my dreams come true," the 24-year-old wrote on Instagram. "It's been an absolute honour every time I put on the shirt, and it was a dream come true to captain the team on many occasions," he said. "I loved every moment. These memories will last forever. I appreciate all the love and support from the fans." And Blues manager Enzo Maresca revealed on Wednesday that left-back Ben Chilwell and winger Raheem Sterling are among 15 players out of a mammoth squad of 42 currently training away from the first team. Sterling's representatives released a statement before Sunday's defeat by Manchester City in their opening fixture of the Premier League season that they wanted "clarity" over the player's future at the club. He was also left out of Maresca's squad for the Europa Conference League play-off first leg with Servette on Thursday. Defenders Chilwell, Wesley Fofana and Tosin Adarabioyo were also not included on Chelsea's A-list submitted to Uefa. When asked if his decision to exile players with 103 England caps between them was "brutal", the Italian coach – who <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2024/05/28/chelsea-hold-talks-with-leicesters-enzo-maresca-to-take-over-as-manager/" target="_blank">took over from Mauricio Pochettino</a> during the summer – replied: "I don't think so I just had to try to be honest. "I just said and I will say it again, I spoke with Raheem before Manchester City, I said that he is going to struggle to get minutes with us. With Chilly, I said he is a lovely guy but with his position, he's going to struggle with us. It's not brutal, it's honest. "It's not a comfortable situation. When I was a player it happened to me. I think it is good to know that if you want to stay, you will struggle to get minutes. So probably now it's not the best situation, but in a few days or weeks it can be a better situation because you move and you join a club where you will get more minutes."
