Chelsea report: Blues reach deal with Joao Felix
Chelsea have verbally agreed a deal to bring Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid to West London to save their season.
The fee is believed to be in the region of €11m (£9.68m) as the Blues – currently 10th in the Premier League and dumped out of the FA Cup third round 4-0 by Manchester City – go to kickstart watching the Graham Potter era with a big purchase.
Stamford Bridge has already been busy this month. Molde’s David Datro Fofana has joined the attack, while Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile has been brought in as defensive cover.
According to The athletics (opens in new tab) David Ornstein and Chelsea have moved ahead of their rivals, with Arsenal and Manchester United apparently both interested in adding Felix to their squads this month.
“No deal has been signed yet,” notes Ornstein, “but if all goes according to plan, he will be followed by more reinforcements to the west London club this month. They mainly want to revive their attack.”
Felix joined Atletico Madrid in 2019 for a nine-figure fee, replacing Barcelona-bound Antoine Griezmann in the second striker role behind a more traditional number 9. But the Portuguese has struggled for consistency under Diego Simeone, with El Cholo even had to deny at one point that he had fallen out with his star (opens in new tab).
With Griezmann back in the capital, Atleti were eager to let the player go on loan this month to get more playing time and play themselves into form. Felix played well for Portugal in spells in Qatar at the World Cup.
The mail (opens in new tab) recently claimed talks had taken place between Atletico and Arsenal with the Spaniards demanding €13 million for the privilege of loaning their number 7.
Felix is ​​appreciated by Transfer market (opens in new tab) be worth approximately €50 million.
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