'Insult to injury': Chelsea branded 'pathetic' over Conor Gallagher and Joao Felix transfer announcements

Chelsea have been branded pathetic for their handling of the announcements of Conor Gallagher's departure and Joao Felix's arrival.

The blues posted a touching video of Gallagher talking about how much it meant to him to play for the club, along with clips of him working his way through the academy to becoming first-team captain.

That was in complete contrast to the way the club planned his departure, exiling him from the first team and forcing him out.

The English midfielder He joined Atletico Madrid and was presented at the Wanda Metropolitano on Wednesday night.

Felix moved in the opposite direction as Chelsea needed to reach an agreement with Atletico, so the Gallagher move went through.

The Portuguese striker was announced to be returning 'home', despite previously only having spent a short loan spell at Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea opted not to make permanent at the time.

talkSPORT presenters Hugh Woozencroft and Flex were furious at the way Chelsea handled it all.

Woozencroft said: “To add insult to injury, they made it seem like Conor Gallagher was a young player at the club who they couldn't bear to lose. It was heartbreaking to see someone who was one of their own and they published interviews of him talking about what it meant to him to be a Chelsea player, pictures of him in the academy.

“A touching video from Conor Gallagher, but he will watch it and say ‘wait a minute, that underlines how much I wanted to be a Chelsea player and shows how much I wasn’t wanted here’.

“How can you look at that and not think that he's a player we want at our football club? It's crazy, especially when they were doing the business for you on the football pitch.”

“Also, are they trying to fool us all? They said he was taking the next step in his footballing adventure as if he was on his way to bigger and better things and we couldn’t stop him, like when Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale left for Real Madrid.

“It’s crazy to think you couldn’t keep it.”

Flex added: “Also, João Félix’s post says ‘back home’. What!? They got in the window wanting (Samu) Omorodionbut they couldn't get it and they had to sign this kid because they needed to reach an agreement with Atletico, so Gallagher took the other route.

“To put ‘back home’ after letting Gallagher go is just awful. And they put ‘Chelsea is where he belongs’. Chelsea weren’t interested in him two weeks ago.

“If this is where he belongs and they can’t wait for João Félix to return home to Stamford Bridge and Cobham, then why wasn’t he one of their top targets during the window? Pathetic.”

Flex added: “Gallagher, after Cole Palmer, was their best player last season.

“For much of the season, he was the player who won the ball back the most, made the most tackles, covered the most ground and wore the captain's armband.

“He really stepped up to the plate at a disappointing time for Chelsea. No Enzo Fernandes, no Moises Caicedo, no Romeo Lavia, can you tell me who the £100m player was in Chelsea's midfield last year?”

No one knows exactly what will happen next at Chelsea, with more departures expected as they try to trim their already bloated squad.

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But that hasn't stopped them from signing 10 players this summer.

In addition to Gallagher, Armando Broja, Trevoh Chalobah and Romelu Lukaku were forced to train away from the first team.

Then Enzo Maresca decided that Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell were surplus to requirements and they were also exiled.

To make matters worse, Sterling number seven shirt The number was given to Pedro Neto.