The same old Joao Felix: Chelsea loanee FLOPS in shock Champions League exit

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 19 Feb 2025 12:47 GMT
• 5 min read

Is it the same old story for Joao Felix?

The former wonderkid was aiming to kickstart his career at Milan after failed spells at Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea but less than a month after his loan move to Rossoneri he’s already under pressure.

Felix completed a Deadline Day loan transfer to Milan on February 3, with no option to buy.

READ MORE: Champions League top scorers 2024/25

The 25-year-old made a bright start at San Siro by scoring a delightful dink on his debut in the Coppa Italia win over Roma.

There was immediate excitement in Milan at the prospect of Felix finally fulfilling his potential in Italy.

He has since started four matches in a row without scoring or assisting and there are fears of another false dawn after a dreadful performance on Tuesday evening.

Milan fell to a shock elimination in the Champions League playoffs at the hands of a decimated Feyenoord team missing 10 players through injury.

The Rossoneri drew 1-1 on the night and lost 2-1 on aggregate, despite going ahead after just 40 seconds on Tuesday through another January signing Santi Gimenez.

READ MORE: Premier League top scorers 2024/25

Theo Hernandez has rightly received most of the blame for the exit after he was sent off for a second yellow card for simulation at a time when Milan were ahead and dominating.

But the performance of Felix has also been widely panned in the Italian media and by fans.

Felix incredibly lost the ball 17 times during the match, completing just 67 per cent of his passes and failing to create a single chance. His long passes were particularly bad with just a 20% accuracy. He also received a yellow card after losing the ball and then fouling an opponent.

Fans of Chelsea and his former clubs of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid will see this as an all-too familiar story with Felix.

A story of Felix flattering to deceive after first joining a new club before reverting to the kind of frustrating performances Milan witnessed against Feyenoord.

Felix is hoping to earn a permanent move to Milan at the end of the season as he has no future at Chelsea. But this showing will not help his chances.

Why Chelsea offloaded Felix

Chelsea decided to offload Felix in January after a disappointing season at Stamford Bridge.

The 25-year-old joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for a whopping €52 million in August, with the Blues only agreeing a deal in order to ensure Conor Gallagher moved in the opposite direction.

However, Felix mustered three Premier League starts, amid competition from Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku.

As a result both player and club decided that a move away in January would be the best solution.

The Rossoneri were in the market for a left-sided attacker who can also play in a front two, and moved for Felix after a transfer for their first target Marcus Rashford fell through.

Joao Felix career

Felix burst onto the scene as a teenager with Benfica and was considered as one of the most exciting youngsters in world football.

This led to Atletico Madrid splashing out €126 million for Felix in 2019, which made him the fourth most expensive player of all time.

However, Felix struggled badly at Atletico to live up to his price tag. He didn’t benefit from Diego Simeone’s defensive style of play, and slowly fell out of favour. He managed just 34 goals in 131 games for the club.

He was loaned out to Chelsea and Barcelona in successive seasons, where he struggled to impress.

Despite this, Chelsea still decided to bring him back permanently last summer.

Once again, though, Felix failed to make the grade and managed one goal in 20 Premier League appearances.

He has won a Portuguese Primeira Liga, Spanish La Liga and a UEFA Nations League during his career.

He has been capped 45 times by Portugal, scoring nine goals.