Conor Gallagher is close to completing a move to Atletico Madrid.

Gallagher flew to Madrid on Monday to undergo a medical and finalise his move to Atletico.

However, Valencia’s sporting director, Miguel Angel Corona, has claimed Atletico Madrid tried to cancel their deal to sign Conor Gallagher, in order to free up funds to sign a different midfielder.

According to Corona, there was almost a late twist in the deal, without Chelsea’s knowledge.

Alongside their move for Gallagher, Atletico Madrid were also exploring a move for midfielder Javi Guerra but had a strict deadline imposed on the deal by his club Valencia.

The move for Guerra eventually broke down, with Valencia sporting director Corona now revealing that Atletico were at one point looking to cancel their agreement with Chelsea for Conor Gallagher.

“There is a maximum agreement [between clubs] on Sunday, plus it was between the president of Valencia and the maximum shareholder of Atletico Madrid,” Corona said.

“On Monday, the documentation is developed and, in the same way, it goes in parallel with the player, who is advancing in this negotiation and almost closes the agreement.

“On Wednesday morning, due to the delay in the return of Atletico’s documents and some comments made, a specific question was asked to Atletico’s owner, about the situation, why the delay.

“The answer was that they were trying to get out of the Chelsea operation and that, if they don’t succeed, they can’t face the Javi Guerra operation.”