Atletico Madrid make FINAL decision on Joao Felix's future

Cameron Smith

• 22 Apr 2023 14:05 CDT
• 3 min read

Atletico Madrid have decided they are ready to sell Joao Felix on a permanent deal to any club in Europe, except Real Madrid and Barcelona, once he returns from his loan spell at Chelsea.

Felix, 23, joined Chelsea on a six-month loan deal in January, with the Blues forking out a huge €12 million loan fee, as well as agreeing to pay his wages in full, to land him amidst competition from Arsenal and Manchester United.

That investment has returned just two goals in 15 appearances in all competitions, while Felix is still yet to notch his first assist in blue colours.

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The Portuguese international, who scored against Ghana at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, has also been dropped to the bench for Chelsea's past two matches - the 2-1 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion and the 2-0 defeat against Real Madrid.

Chelsea are reportedly unlikely to sign Felix on a permanent deal, with the Blues needing to offload players to reduce the size of their enormous first-team squad.

As a result, he is set to return to Atletico Madrid this summer. However, despite signing a contract extension at the Wanda Metropolitano before joining Chelsea on loan, Felix could be sold by the Spanish club.

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The 23-year-old has never been able to establish himself as a consistent starter under Diego Simeone, and Atleti have won 11 of their 15 games since shipping Felix off to Chelsea in January.

He is reportedly deemed surplus to requirement at the club and Atletico are ready to sell him to any club in Europe, except Real Madrid and Barcelona, according to Marca.

Will Joao Felix join Chelsea permanently

Although Felix has been a regular for the majority of games since joining Chelsea, the feeling is that they will decide against signing him permanently.

Atletico are expected to demand a large fee after spending €127m to sign him from Benfica four years ago, and Chelsea already need to offload players in order to finance transfer activity this summer.

Therefore, it seems an unrealistic possibility that Felix will be turning out in a Chelsea shirt next season.