€52m down the drain: Why did Chelsea sign Joao Felix?

Updated: 21 Oct 2024 17:00 BST
4 min read

Joao Felix's career continues to spiral and the attacker finds himself on the outside looking in at Chelsea.

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The summer signing cut a glum figure at Anfield on Sunday. In the 53rd minute, just moments after Liverpool reclaimed their lead over Chelsea, coach Enzo Maresca threw on three substitutes to help his side claw their way back into the game - but it was ultimately in vain.

As his teammates were getting themselves ready to come on next to him, a visibly agitated Joao Felix sulked on the bench, either upset at the goal just conceded or, more likely judging by his body language, upset that he was left among the replacements.

And that didn't change for the rest of the game. By the time the final whistle blew, the Portuguese was still on the bench, an unused substitute for the second time in three Premier League fixtures.

In fact, Felix has not started a single league game since rejoining Chelsea for an eye-watering €52 million and he has only played nine minutes of top-flight football in the previous three matches.

Felix quickly becoming a Chelsea flop

The only games Felix has started under Maresca were the 5-0 Carabao Cup win over minnows Barrow and the 4-2 Conference League defeat of Gent. This essentially means that the 24-year-old occupies the same spot in the Chelsea hierarchy as players like Cesare Casadei and Mykhailo Mudryk.

Felix is nothing more than a rotational player at this point and, like Mudryk, a very expensive one at that. The fact that the attacking midfielder is flopping so hard at Stamford Bridge goes to show that his signing was exclusively for financial reasons.

Felix was part of the deal, albeit informally, that saw Conor Gallagher head to Atletico Madrid for €42m, with Chelsea desperate to offload the academy graduate to raise 'pure profit.'

Atletico, having signed Julian Alvarez from Man City for up to €95m, needed to send a player to Chelsea in return for Gallagher because they would not have been able to afford the Englishman otherwise.

The Blues were said to be unwilling to break the bank on Felix and reportedly felt they got a good deal for €52m, but those who have watched Atleti's record signing in recent years knew that this sum was still too much.

Since his absurdly inflated €127m move to Spain's capital in 2019, Felix has been nothing short of a major disappointment. There have been glimpses of his talent, to be sure, but to say that he has been underwhelming would be an understatement.

Compared

VS

2024/2025

Season Statistics

2024/2025

7	Appearances	7
1	Goals	7
1	Assists	0

Even at Barcelona, his 'dream club,' he massively dropped off after a strong start to his loan stint last season and the Blaugrana felt that there was no point in re-signing him given the finances involved.

Chelsea had initially wanted to exchange Gallagher for Samu Omorodion, but the deal collapsed at the final hurdle. In hindsight, given his amazing start to life at Porto, it clearly would have been a better signing - and a cheaper one, too, as he would have cost the same as Gallagher.

Read more about: La Liga, Premier League, Atlético, Chelsea, Conor Gallagher, Joao Felix