Chelsea reportedly look set to bring Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix to Stamford Bridge on a loan deal this month.
It's been a difficult few weeks for Chelsea, with the Blues in the middle of an injury crisis as well as struggling to find winning results on the pitch. The Blues have won just one of their last eight Premier League games and sit 10th in the table, whilst defeats to Man City in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup eliminated Potter's side from both competitions in just the third round.
Failure to score in five of their last seven games in all competitions has been a major issue, but according to The Athletic's David Ornstein, Chelsea have verbally agreed to sign Felix on loan, with the Blues paying an €11million (£9.68m) fee for the 23-year-old's temporary services. Both Arsenal and Manchester United were also interested in the Atletico Madrid forward, but it appears Chelsea have won the race for his signature.
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So, if a deal was to be completed, how could Felix perform at Stamford Bridge during the remainder of the season? We simulated the rest of the season to try and find out.
We 'signed' Joao Felix for Chelsea as a January transfer
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to arrange for the Portugal international to join Chelsea on January 9, 2023, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the remainder of the 2022/23 season to judge the impact Felix could have if he was to link up with the Blues.
Felix became a regular in Potter's side on his arrival, overtaking Kai Havertz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the pecking order and starting regularly in front of Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling. In his first season with the Blues, Felix made 19 appearances, with 18 of them starts.
Sixteen of his appearances came in the Premier League and three came in the Champions League, with the Portugal international managing eight goals and three assists in that time. Six of his goals and one of his assists came in the Premier League which was Felix's best competition, whilst one goal came in the FA Cup and one goal and assist came in the Champions League.
Overall, the 23-year-old averaged a rating of 7.06 in all competitions, with his Champions League average rating bringing down his overall rating slightly. When compared to the rest of the Chelsea squad, Felix was the second highest-rated forward in the squad and the fourth top scorer, despite making many fewer appearances than his teammates.
Sterling really found his feet in the second half of the season, registering the second-best average rating in the Chelsea squad and scoring an incredible 29 goals across all competitions. Aubameyang and Mount scored 13 and 11 goals, respectively, whilst it was Thiago Silva who averaged the best rating in Chelsea's squad (7.44).
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Chelsea XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Chelsea best XI: (3-4-2-1): Mendy; Fofana, Silva, Koulibaly; James, Jorginho, Kante, Chilwell; Mount, Sterling; Felix.
Felix was included in the Chelsea best XI, starting in the striker role ahwad of Aubameyang, Havertz, and David Datro Fofana. N'Golo Kante partnered Jorginho in midfield, with the likes of Aubameyang, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella all missing out.
Chelsea's results with Felix from the 2022/23 season
Chelsea did improve in the second half of the season, with Felix's addition helping push the Blues up the table. But, despite their best efforts, Potter's side missed out on a spot in the top four as they finished fifth in the Premier League.
Defeat on the final day of the season saw Chelsea drop out of the top four, with Manchester United overtaking the Blues and finishing one point ahead in fourth. Chelsea finished on 64 points, beating Spurs to fifth only on goal difference.
There was an 18-point gap between United in fourth and Arsenal in third, with the Gunners falling off the pace towards the end of the season, whilst Liverpool and Manchester City found their best form of the season. Felix was able to return to European football with a move to Chelsea, but he couldn't get the Blues far in the competition as Potter's side won no silverware in the simulation.
After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, Luis Diaz scored the only goal in the second leg to win the Champions League quarter-final tie for Liverpool. Overall, FM23 predicts that Felix could be a good fit for the Chelsea squad, slotting into Potter's style of football perfectly. The Portuguese international had an impressive goal return in the simulation, but he wasn't able to help Chelsea climb back into the top four in a poor season results-wise.
Do you think Felix could be the right signing Chelsea? Let us know below!
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