Joao Felix has been drafted in on loan to help save Chelsea’s season and improve Graham Potter’s failing attack.
The 23-year-old has moved to Stamford Bridge on a deal until the end of the season that has cost £8million plus his £270,000-a-week wages.
Potter will hope Felix can quickly adapt to English football but the Chelsea manager has said that “from a physical perspective he can go in”.
Taking the No11 shirt, Felix can contribute both goals and assists with Chelsea’s non-penalty expected goals the fifth lowest in the Premier League.
That statistic means the Blues are not creating enough chances and shows the need to play Felix as soon as possible, especially with injuries to Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic.
Potter is not wedded to any particular system and will ask Felix to adapt to a variety of formations and positions.
Primarily for Atletico Madrid and Portugal, Felix plays in one of three positions. He can line up as a striker, as a No10 or, due to being right-footed, as an inverted left winger.
Chelsea could put him in his favoured No10 role to help improve chance creation in a 4-2-3-1 system. He would then take the place of Kai Havertz or Mason Mount in the central attacking role.
In a 4-3-3, which Chelsea have used often, Felix would be a left winger. When Chelsea deploy a back three, they could use him on the left wing, as a No10 or as a central striker.
Ideally, Felix would work with a striker which might see a resurgence from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has scored just three goals in 15 matches for Chelsea.
