Chelsea beat Man Utd & Arsenal to Joao Felix transfer

James Shearman

• Updated: 9 Jan 2023 17:00 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea have beaten Manchester United and Arsenal to the loan signing of Joao Felix, according to reports.

The trio have been heavily linked with a move for Felix in recent months, but the Portugal international is close to joining Chelsea for the remainder of the season.

On the back of a difficult run of games, where manager Graham Potter has come under pressure, owner Todd Boehly appears to have backed his man.

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The Blues have agreed to pay Atletico Madrid £9.5 million as well as covering his full wages.

No buy option has yet been agreed, but Chelsea will certainly be eyeing up a permanent transfer for Felix, according to CBS reporter Ben Jacobs.

The west London club are in desperate need of creativity, having scored just 20 goals in the Premier league this season, which is what Felix should provide.

Joao Felix's Atletico career

Felix signed for Los Colchoneros in 2019 for a club-record €126m (£113m) fee, after an impressive 2018-19 season at Benfica.

The 23-year-old registered 15 goals and seven assists in 26 Primeira Liga fixtures.

He was then signed by Diego Simeone's Atletico as a replacement for Barcelona bound Antoine Griezmann.

And while the former Benfica star has shown glimpses of his undoubted talent, he has not been able to replicate the influence that Griezmann had on the team, so much so that they re-signed the Frenchman last summer.

In fairness, Simeone's pragmatic style of play makes it difficult to succeed as a forward, though it seems Felix doesn't have what it takes to produce at the level of Griezmann and Diego Costa in years gone by.

Age is well and truly on Felix's side, though, but it appears the hierarchy at the Wanda Metropolitano have already seen enough.