Chelsea ready to pay £71m for the signing of a world-class player
Chelsea are willing to buy Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix outright at the end of the season after he has impressed for the Blues, according to reports.
Manager Graham Potter is thought to be happy with his (few) performances so far and is keen to make him a permanent feature of his squad, however, it may cost Chelsea a considerable sum.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone will also have to sign off on the sale, but with rumours of a fallout between the pair, this is unlikely to be a problem.
This is according to Spanish outlet Cadena SER, who claim that a bid of €80m (approx. £71m) could be enough to secure Felix’s signature.
Chelsea owner Todd Boehly certainly has no problem with spending large sums on players.
This season alone, the American has already purchased the likes of Enzo Fernandez (£107m) and Mykhaylo Mudryk (£88.5m), as Potter aims to build a team that can dominate in the future.
His Premier League career got off to a shaky start, as he was shown a red card on his debut against Fulham, which ruled him out of his next three matches.
However, Felix made an empathetic comeback with a goal against West Ham last Saturday and Potter will hope that he can continue to find the net for the remainder of the season.
Chelsea already have a plan to sign Felix permanently
The 23-year-old’s current deal is a straight loan, with no option to buy in his contract. But, according to a report from Football365, Chelsea already have a plan to make his stay permanent at the end of the season.
The Blues allegedly held discussions with Atletico over a ‘post-loan plan’ for Felix when they agreed on his January loan move.
As a result, the club are supposedly ‘confident’ that they can sign the Portuguese attacker if he can continue to show his quality in the Premier League.
From Felix’s point of view, he is unlikely to want to return to Spain if he enjoys his football in London, especially given the rift between him and Simeone.
However, he could change his mind if Simeone leaves Los Colchoneros in the summer. The Spanish giants have struggled for form recently, currently sitting in fourth place in the LaLiga table – 18 points adrift from league leaders Barcelona.
For Chelsea, Felix could represent a valuable long-term investment, as given he is still relatively young, he could prove to be a key player under Potter for years to come.
After joining Atletico in 2019, the attacker scored 34 goals and made 18 assists in 131 appearances, giving him an impressive average of 0.4 goal contributions per game in Spain.
But, considering his hefty price tag, he may have to score a few more goals this season for Chelsea to justify signing him permanently.
