Joao Felix
(Picture: Chelsea FC)Chelsea manager Graham Potter hopes new loan signing Joao Felix can make his debut against Fulham on Thursday.
The striker earlier on Wednesday finalised a temporary move to Stamford Bridge for the remainder of the season, with the Blues forking out around £15million combined for both fee and wages across six months.
Felix will strengthen Potter’s attack, as Chelsea bid to close a 10-point gap to the top four and qualify for the Champions League, and has already trained with his new team-mates ahead of a possible debut tomorrow.
His arrival on a short-term deal will help ease Chelsea’s crippling injury list, with the absences of Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic - the latter facing two months out - depleting the forward options available to Potter.
Potter will now hope to find a forward line to help turn their season around after a run of two wins in nine games.
The forward had to be registered with the Premier League before midday on Wednesday to be eligible to compete in the London derby and Potter has confirmed the club is waiting to hear back from the governing body for sign-off.
"The injuries may be sharpened the focus a bit,” Potter said of Felix’s arrival. “It was good to get him in training today and we will see about playing on Thursday.
"We're still waiting for confirmation that he can play."
Potter added: "From a physical perspective, he can go in. It's always a little bit of an unknown period as he is going from one club to another, but that's on a case-to-case basis."
