Chelsea have been busily briefing any and all available journalists over the past 48 hours about our supposed good-faith attempts to find a “solution” in the Conor Gallagher situation that would make “everyone happy” — those are the approved words for head coach Enzo Maresca to use — but what we appear to be actually doing is basically forcing our Academy midfielder out.

And while at the end of the day that’s not an unprecedented situation in the business of football, we’ve certainly managed to make a right old mess of this thing, with bad optics and even worse vibes.

That said, the two sides do remain in communication, so perhaps things are not yet unsalvageable. I don’t imagine there is any real hope of Gallagher actually playing for us this season, or anytime in the near future, but perhaps we can at least avoid the awkwardness of one more year together (or not-so-together).

Chelsea keep bringing up this supposed two-year deal (plus option) that we claim would put him near the top of our new wage structures, but clearly Gallagher isn’t finding the terms agreeable — especially given the circumstances. Repeatedly shoving that offer in his face may make for a good tweet, but it’s not exactly useful negotiating process.

Meanwhile, we have accepted a bid from Atlético Madrid, but of course we cannot force Gallagher to accept anything from them. So we’re now apparently threatening to Malouda him into the reserves if he doesn’t go. Not great!

Monday is said to be a deadline of sorts, with Atléti not willing to wait around forever. Guess we’ll see what the next deadline will be after that.