Todd Boehly keen to keep Joao Felix at Chelsea permanently
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly is interested in making Joao Felix a permanent fixture in the Blues’ roster ahead of the 2023/24 season.
However, Atletico Madrid would not want to lose him for a cheap price, as they paid £113 million to Benfica to land him. Yet, AS (h/t Express) claims that Boehly and company will do whatever it takes to land the Portuguese sensation.
Despite the Blues’ disappointing season, the 23-year-old is reported to want to stay at the club. Felix was acquired by the Blues for £9.7 million during the winter transfer window on a temporary contract. There is no clause to make the stay permanent and fresh negotiations will need to take place in the summer.
Felix’s contract contains a no-buy clause from Atletico Madrid, so Chelsea will need to reopen talks with the Spanish club. If anything, it further complicates our pursuit of the Portuguese international.`
In an effort to expedite the process, it is also said that Chelsea would like Felix to push for a permanent transfer to his current club. Felix, 23, is not eager to return to the Spanish club following a fallout with manager Diego Simeone.
The former Benfica great, though, has had a decent start to his Chelsea spell. He was dismissed against Fulham in his opening game, but he made a strong comeback by scoring in a 1-1 draw against West Ham. He has made 10 Premier League appearances but has only scored twice so far.
Felix has made a compelling impact since joining Chelsea on loan, and it did not take him long to adapt to the Premier League. When compared to players like Kai Havertz and Raheem Sterling, he has shown more promise during the same time.
His presence in the attack enables Chelsea to function well as he creates good enough for them and produces quality opportunities, although he has been poor in front of goal squandering many easy opportunities.
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Yet if his loan agreement is made permanent, then a number of players will be required to depart, assuming Christopher Nkunku also joins Chelsea in the summer. And if we have too many attacking players, such players will have to depart the team if they want more game time.