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Chelsea want their future to revolve around Joao Felix

By Evan Curnew

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Joao Felix of Chelsea celebrates after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on February 11, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Joao Felix of Chelsea celebrates after scoring the team's first goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Chelsea FC at London Stadium on February 11, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /
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Despite already splashing hundreds of millions in the last 12 months, Chelsea could be set to sign Joao Felix for under his original asking price

According to Fabrizio Romano on his YouTube channel, “[Chelsea] feel internally it could be a serious option to agree to a deal with Atletico Madrid” for Joao Felix. Further, Romano mentions that the relationship between the two clubs is also very strong making a deal even more possible. Romano echoes their positive feelings around a potential deal but of course, things will not be advanced until after the Premier League season is finished.

Reliable Spanish journalist Matteo Moretto recently reported that Joao Felix has “fallen in love” with the club already and that owner Todd Boehly wants Joao Felix to be the poster child for the future of Chelsea. Moretto further reports that Chelsea may be able to get the Portuguese international on a cut price from the original value touted this January. Chelsea could sign Joao Felix permanently for around £88M including add-ons.

Felix has had an eventful start to life at Chelsea, receiving a red card in his first match against Fulham despite impressing in his debut. He scored his first goal for the club against West Ham on February 11th in a 1-1 draw at London Stadium.

Joao Felix will be on loan for the remainder of the season at Chelsea having joined from Spanish side Atletico Madrid. Chelsea paid a substantially high loan fee of around £9.7M for Felix.

While still an exceptionally talented player, Joao Felix looked destined to be one of the best players in the world back in 2019 when he made a £113M move to Atletico Madrid from Benfica at just 19 years of age. Diego Simeone’s defensive system at Atletico Madrid no doubt has hampered Felix’s offensive output but how much will that change at Chelsea? Graham Potter’s Chelsea has scored just 6 goals in their last 11 matches and generally speaking, have been quite poor offensively under the Englishmen. Felix will be tasked with improving the club’s goal-scoring record but given their recent struggles, it will be hard to carry the team on his back.

Does building around Joao Felix make sense?

Absolutely. Joao Felix is a top young talent and a fresh slate at Chelsea could work wonders for the player. It’s clear Chelsea has developed a transfer philosophy to target the best young players around the world, having signed World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez.

With multiple reports confirming the arrival of French striker Christopher Nkunku in the summer, Joao Felix would have some healthy competition for his position should he sign permanently. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to say Chelsea is currently in an identity crisis and perhaps labelling Joao Felix as someone they want to build around could help show where their future lies ahead.

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