Chelsea make offer for Joao Felix - but there's a catch

Stuart Telford

• 16 Feb 2023 15:28 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea want to make Joao Felix's loan from Atletico Madrid permanent at the end of the season, but they have no intention of helping the Spaniards recoup much of the €126 million they paid for him in 2019.

Felix became the second-most expensive teenager of all time after Kylian Mbappe when he swapped Benfica for Atletico in July 2019, and he has shown flashes of his brilliance in the Spanish capital.

The Portuguese forward had 13 goal-involvements from 31 games as Atletico won La Liga in 2021, but he has fallen out of favour under Diego Simeone and was allowed to join Chelsea on loan for an €11m fee in January.

READ: Atletico lower Joao Felix price to seal Chelsea transfer

All parties concerned - Felix, Chelsea and Atletico - are interested in making the deal permanent at the end of the season, but the clubs are yet to agree on what his fee might be.

Valued at €44.3m by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, his asking price will fluctuate based on his Chelsea performances, and the Blues also want to throw players into the deal to act as makeweights.

Mount as a makeweight?

"Among those possible footballers appears to be [Mason] Mount," report Marca. "Untouchable until recently, he has been left out of late - as seen against Dortmund [a 1-0 loss in the Champions League].

READ: Chelsea to sell contract rebel Mason Mount this summer?

"He is one of the players offered to the Rojiblancos to make Joao cheaper. The problem with Mount and others is the high salaries paid in the Premier League, far above Atletico's budget in the longer term."

Mount remains one of the lowest-paid players in Chelsea's squad, however, on £4.2 million a year - a figure Atletico could double and still stay well inside their salary structure.

Chelsea lifted Reece James' terms to £13m a year in September, though, and the Spaniards would struggle to match Chelsea if they offered Mount similar terms on a renewal.