Chelsea have struck a verbal agreement with Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix to sign him in January, claims The Athletic’s David Ornstein. The Blues are desperate to sign more players even after making three signings already in the January window, including that of French defender Benoit Badiashile and striker David Fofana.
Chelsea Verbally Agree Loan Deal for Joao Felix
🚨 Chelsea reach verbal agreement to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid. Fee ~€11m (below initial #Atleti ask). Man Utd + Arsenal keen so 23yo had choice & #CFC project appealed. More reinforcements to follow this month @TheAthleticFC #MUFC #AFC https://t.co/igZlGZuf8h
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) January 9, 2023
Felix Set to Reject Manchester United and Arsenal for Chelsea Move
Todd Boehly appears to have taken little time in working on getting more reinforcements for Graham Potter’s squad after their embarrassing 4-0 loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup third-round game on Sunday. He’s managed to strike an agreement with the La Liga side to send them the Portuguese forward on loan until the end of the season to help fix their goal-scoring woes.
Read More: Chelsea Exploring Marcus Thuram Signing in January
Ornstein also adds that Chelsea have agreed to pay a loan fee of around £9.68 million, which is actually lower than the amount which Atletico were demanding at the start of the January transfer window. Joao Felix is himself also keen on a move to Stamford Bridge and even rejected a move to Manchester United and Arsenal, as he is attracted by the Blues’ project under new management – claims Ornstein.
🥅 Of the 47 players to be directly involved in 20+ goals since the start of the 2020/21 La Liga season, Joao Felix has the 4th best minutes per goal contribution return (112.4) in the league
😲 Only Lionel Messi (77.5), Karim Benzema (79) and Gerard Moreno (94.4) have better pic.twitter.com/W5hxNeoJP4
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 10, 2023
Chelsea Planning More Winter Reinforcements After Felix
It appears that the London side are not done spending in the winter transfer window after this interesting development with the Portuguese player. Even after splurging a record amount in transfer fees in the summer and making three signings this month, they still don’t seem to be satisfied.
Ornstein states that if things go according to plan, Felix could be one of the multiple reinforcements made by Chelsea before the closure of the transfer window. The Blues are especially keen on signing attacking players to revitalise their forward line.
Read More: Chelsea Sent Brutal Message by Benfica in Enzo Fernandez Pursuit
But Potter will probably be pleased with the potential acquisition of a quality player like Joao Felix. The 23-year-old, dubbed as a ‘special talent’ by teammate Alvaro Morata, has scored five goals and provided three assists for Atletico this season. He also had a pretty good World Cup campaign with Portugal, scoring one goal and providing two assists in four appearances.
