Todd Boehly has been told to go "all-out" to sign Joao Felix on a permanent transfer at Chelsea once his loan at Stamford Bridge expires in the summer. The 23-year-old joined the club in January from Atletico Madrid and has provided moments of quality in Blue, but has ultimately failed to deliver on the big occasions.
From 13 appearances across the Premier League and Champions League, Felix has managed just two goals with both strikes coming in 1-1 draws against West Ham and Everton. Despite his poor goal return over the last few months, as football.london reported recently, Chelsea are seriously considering making a permanent move for the Atletico loanee once his temporary contract is up, with Felix also loving life in west London.
"If I want to stay or not, the future nobody knows," Felix said when discussing his future in March. "We don't know what will happen. I am here and the club is so big, it's amazing. Everyone behind the club is so good so I am happy to be here."
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Flashes of brilliance have been on show regularly from Felix but his inability to consistently deliver will likely be a worry for Boehly when deciding his transfer plans. The clearest example of this arrived in Wednesday evening's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, with Felix largely ineffective during his 65 minutes on the pitch.
Atletico forked out £114million for the Portugal international in 2019, but it is highly unlikely a fee close to that will be recouped by the Spanish giants given Felix's challenging spell under Diego Simeone.
However, Atletico will still likely demand a package deal in the region of £100million which could be difficult for Chelsea to pay. Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke came in over the January window, Raheem Sterling was signed for big money last summer and Christopher Nkunku is going to be a Chelsea player at the end of the season.
Although adding Felix to that attacking quartet would present a lot of dilemmas for whoever takes permanent charge of the club, Glen Johnson is of the belief his former club should sign Felix on a permanent basis if a rival club makes an approach.
“He’s certainly won me over more in the last few games," Johnson told Betfred. "He showed against Liverpool that he’s clearly a class player and normally I don’t like to see clubs go all-out to sign one player, but João is a game-changer. He’s got eyes in the back of his head and he’s a proper, proper footballer.
“The need to sign him will be even greater if one of the club’s main rivals came in for him. I don’t like to see clubs break the bank for players and you should only do that if the player is going to be the last piece of the puzzle, but Chelsea’s team are miles away from that.
"In that sense, Joao is probably a luxury they don’t need, but as he’s currently at the club on loan and they have the opportunity to sign him, then they should do what they need to do to keep him, especially if a Premier League rival such as Manchester United comes in for him.”
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