19 April 2023 , 17:46
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Atletico Madrid remain hopeful that Chelsea will complete the permanent signing of Joao Felix this summer in a deal which could exceed £88million.
The Blues came to a quick-fire agreement with the Spanish club in January for a loan deal until the end of the campaign but it remains unclear where the forward will be playing beyond the end of the current campaign.
Video footage emerged of the attacker speaking to Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior in the aftermath of the Blues' two-goal defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday. The two players are great friends, but many fans of Chelsea were left unimpressed by his upbeat attitude amid their slump in form.
Felix and Vinicius Jr were videod sharing jokes and a close chat following Chelsea's Champions League exitBlues interim boss Frank Lampard became the club’s first manager to lose each of his opening four matches in the hotseat but Felix has struggled to hit top form since his January switch. In 14 appearances he has scored just twice and is yet to assist, winning just three matches and suffering eight defeats.
As detailed by Marca, Atleti hope Chelsea owner Todd Boehly – whom they believe values individual quality ahead of building a coherent team – will now fund the permanent signing of Felix, with a price of £88million (€100m) on the table.
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The club are prioritising the player’s sale this summer as he does not feature in the plans of Diego Simeone, while the club are keen for transfer funds to help rebuild their squad. Atleti are unbeaten in their 13 La Liga matches since the player’s exit, accumulating an impressive 33 points in that run.
Not all has gone to plan for Felix since joining Chelsea, losing 8 of his 14 games on the pitch (Manuel Reino Berengui/Getty Images)Have Your Say! Should Chelsea sign Joao Felix permanently? Tell us what you think here.
In December, the Portugal international had instructed his agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new club and Atletico Madrid’s CEO, Miguel Angel Gil Marin, admitted that the club’s record signing would leave. There was agreement on all sides that the player needed to leave Atleti.
Felix, 23, has started just seven of Atleti’s 16 La Liga matches this campaign and has fallen out of favour entirely under boss Diego Simeone, despite finding the net four times in his limited game time.
The forward joined the Spanish giants from Benfica in the summer of 2019 for a club-record £108million after enjoying a breakthrough season in Lisbon, bagging 20 goals and establishing himself as one of the hottest properties in European football.
However, he has failed to replicate that form in the Spanish capital and he has never become a regular starter for Simeone’s side throughout his three-and-a-half years at the club. He has never scored more than 10 goals in any individual campaign.