11 January 2023 , 12:41
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Joao Felix has revealed he was previously compared to Mason Mount - a player he now admires following his Chelsea switch.
The Atletico Madrid forward has completed a loan move to Stamford Bridge with the Blues seeking to bolster their forward ranks this month. Graham Potter's side have struggled for goals having largely played without a recognised No 9, which has hampered their top four push.
Mason Mount has been amongst their most forward thinking players, but he's only scored three times this term. His stock remains incredibly high however following a swift rise in west London. Mount has been a mainstay at club level despite playing under several different managers.
Felix has earned comparisons with the Blues star and has long kept an eye out. He told the Daily Mail in 2021: "I like the way he plays, the way he likes to drag the ball, the way he touches the ball. I played with Chris Willock in Benfica three or four years ago and he told me that Chelsea has a guy that he sees who is similar to me and he told me it was Mason Mount.
"A few years later he appeared in Chelsea and I like the way he plays. Chris had told me about him before he appeared in the Premier League, so I was waiting to see him."
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The Portuguese international, who was also on Arsenal and Manchester United's radar, has opted for a switch to west London with the Blues paying a loan fee. There is no option to buy in the agreement with Felix penning a new deal at Atletico until 2027.
Joao Felix and Mason Mount have previously come up against each other in the pastFelix's arrival is timely with the Blues in desperate need of form. A fresh face could galvanise a group that have won lost four of their last eight Premier League games, winning just one. They've also been dumped out of both cup competitions as pressure mounts on Potter.
The former Brighton boss is working with the squad he inherited from Thomas Tuchel, but has been full of praise for Mount's qualities having had the chance to see him on a daily basis.
He said previously: "I think it's his personality as much as his football ability," said the 47-year-old. "He enjoys the game, loves the game, loves the club, loves his teammates, wants to win, wants to improve, is open-minded, prepared to suffer, prepared to do the ugly side of the game.
"Then he has the quality to be the match winner that he was at the weekend, but the other stuff, I think, is the stuff below the water, below the iceberg. That's what maybe you don't recognise or see with him, but he is a top person, a top professional."