Chelsea are edging closer to securing the services of Joao Felix on loan until the end of the season, football.london understands. The Blues have a verbal agreement in place for the Atletico Madrid striker for a fee in the region of €11million (£9.7million).
Todd Boehly has already signed three players this month with Benoit Badiashile arriving to bolster Graham Potter's backline alongside David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos. The club are not expected to finish with their winter business just yet.
Chelsea have struggled in front of goal this campaign and have dropped further down the table into 10th. Any hopes of finishing in the Premier League top rely on a transformation in form at Stamford Bridge and a new forward enhances that.
READ MORE: What Cristiano Ronaldo said about Joao Felix as Chelsea close in on Atletico Madrid transfer
As the details of Felix's move continued to be ironed out, a decision that creates excitement amongst supporters is what number a new signing will wear when they make their Chelsea debut. With that in mind, football.london takes a look at the possible numbers Felix could take.
With No.2 and No.3 unlikely to be selected for a forward, the early contender is No.11. The number has remained vacant since Timo Werner secured his return to RB Leipzig in the summer. Didier Drogba spent the majority of his time in west London wearing the No.11 strip and it has since been worn by Juan Cuadrado, Alexandre Pato and Pedro.
Should Felix decide against taking the No.11, the next available number is No.15. The number has not been worn by a Chelsea player since Kurt Zouma after previously being owned by Victor Moses, Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne.
The No.25 shirt hasn't been worn since Gianfranco Zola left in 2003 and is unlikely to be taken any time soon. The Italian scored 78 goals during his time at the club, form Felix will be hoping to replicate in a small sample. The last number available is No.31, last worn by Malang Sarr.
The shirt number has never really featured on a regular figure at the club. Fikayo Tomori (2017/18) and Andreas Christensen (2014/15) held the number for a single season with the number previously having seven goalkeepers.
Squad numbers currently available to Joao Felix: 2, 3, 11, 15, 25, 31.
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