Chelsea told how to get the best out of Joao Felix

Stuart Telford

• 10 Feb 2023 19:21 GMT
• 3 min read

Joao Felix's Chelsea career may only be one game old, but a former manager already thinks the Blues could be putting the Portugal international to better use.

Felix completed his loan move to Chelsea from Atletico Madrid last month, the Blues paying the Spanish club €11 million for Felix's services until the end of the season.

He was handed his debut against Fulham last month, and showed some good touches before being sent of an hour into Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.

READ: Chelsea told Joao Felix transfer fee as Atletico hope for 'dream' loan spell

Felix will finally be available once again when Graham Potter's men make the journey across London to West Ham on Saturday, and Wolves manager Bruno Lage, who had Felix at Benfica, thinks he knows best how to use him.

Lage: 'Felix isn't a No.10'

"Benfica played in a 4-3-3 and I changed to a 4-4-2 because it was the right system for Joao," he told Portuguese sports paper Record.

"He's not a No.10. He's not the one who plays behind the striker. I prefer to call him a 'free striker'. He needs to play with a penalty box striker, someone he can find with passes. Joao plays between the lines and in the space behind the defence."

READ: LAFC drop major Aubameyang transfer hint

That may not be music to the ears of Chelsea fans. With Romelu Lukaku on loan at Inter Milan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the cusp of sealing a move to LAFC, out-and-out strikers are pretty thin on the ground at Stamford Bridge.

Felix played behind Kai Havertz in that Fulham game but the German is more of a False 9, when not playing in his original position of attacking midfield.

Potter might well try the same experiment again on Saturday, although second guessing the Englishman's formations let alone personnel since he succeeded Thomas Tuchel has been something of a fool's errand thus far.