Chelsea have reached an agreement in principle to sell Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid for £33million plus add-ons, talkSPORT understands.
The Blues had originally been quoting £50m for Gallagher, who is yet to discuss personal terms with the Spanish side.
Tottenham are still monitoring the situation, having been interested in the England international since last year.
Meanwhile, it’s understood that Aston Villa had a club-record bid for Gallagher accepted in June, however, the player decided against the move.
An offer of a new three-year contract was reportedly on the table for Gallagher on multiple occasions this summer but he’s rebuffed them.
The 24-year-old has been on Chelsea’s books since he was eight years old and after four loan spells away he broke into the first team two years ago.
He was then made the club’s de facto captain with first and second choices Reece James and Ben Chilwell largely missing all of last season with injuries.
Gallagher has long been linked with a departure from Chelsea over the past 12 months, though, despite missing just one Premier League game last season.
However, with the midfielder entering the final year of his contract this year, the Blues have had to work harder to find a suitor.
Atletico Madrid became interested earlier this summer but would not meet Chelsea’s asking price.
But a breakthrough was made this week with the west London outfit drastically lowering their valuation, accepting Atletico’s bid of £33m, plus add-ons which could reach £37.9m.
That is a heavy £17m less than what Chelsea had initially hoped for – and understood to be less than what Villa were offering – though the full fee might increase if add-ons are met.
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Gallagher might also turn down the chance to move to Atletico, having yet to discuss personal terms.
But it’s understood the player is interested by the project in Spain with Atleti able to offer Champions League football and the chance to be coached by Diego Simeone.
However, the full fee will be counted as pure profit on the books at Stamford Bridge, where other players might leave under similar circumstances.
Academy graduate Trevoh Chalobah was told to stay at home as the squad jetted off for the United States on a pre-season tour in a bid to force the defender out.
Another Cobham product Lewis Hall was sold over the summer to Newcastle after certain clauses in an initial loan deal were met.
And Ian Maatsen, another player to come up through the youth system at Chelsea, was allowed to join Aston Villa on a permanent deal just weeks after leading Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League final.
However, the decision to sell Gallagher will come as a blow to Chelsea fans, where he was a fan favourite, while club legend Joe Cole explicitly told the club not to let him go.