He expressed his desire to leave Madrid and he will make it happen. Diego Simeone promoted him to a starter in the last two rounds of the Primera, but he did not change the decision of Joao Felix to leave Atletico. The Portuguese and Diego Simeone have not been in love for a long time, and this was confirmed by the club’s management at the end of last year, when it was publicly announced that they would listen to offers for Felix.
That’s why the Portuguese is determined to change his environment, and as expected, his next destination is Great Britain.
Only, not Manchester United, nor Arsenal, although they placed him high on the list of priorities, but Chelsea. A club rocked by an unprecedented crisis – playing, scoring, coaching, management – found a way to convince the winger to move to Stamford Bridge.
The London club agreed to pay about 11.000.000 euros for a six-month loan, which includes the rest of Felix’s salary from Athletic until the end of the season. And that is between 5.000.000 and 6.000.000 million euros net. Although Manchester United was considered the favorite for a loan of Felix for a long time, the club from Old Trafford did not want to pay more than 3.500.000 euros for the loan, which was unacceptable for the Madrid’s club.
Joao Felix is the most expensive signing in the history of Atletico Madrid, which in the summer of 2019 paid a buyout clause of 120,000,000 euros plus 7,200,000 euros of various commissions and taxes for his transfer from Benfica.
But in Madrid he never lived up to expectations even though there were some bright moments. He fluctuated a lot in form, never got used to Diego Simeone’s defensive style and eventually clashed with the Argentine specialist who moved him to the bench. In total, he scored 34 goals and recorded 16 assists in 131 games. In the end, he openly requested a transfer and the club had no choice but to give him the green light.
It is interesting that Joao Felix first extended his contract with Atletico until 2027, since his current one expires in 2026, in order to extend the payment of the remaining part of the compensation to Benfica. Also, according to the latest information, Chelsea will not have the right to buy out the contract, so it seems that Atletico is most seriously counting on Felix in the future.
Chelsea have already brought in three players in the January transfer window. Former Monaco stopper Benoit Badiashile, Molde striker David Fofana, as well as young Brazilian midfielder Andre Santos were signed. The need to sign Joao Felix was forced by the fact that Potter’s side’s attack was not working, as the team scored just 20 goals in his first 17 Premier League games.
