Chelsea are at the final stages of completing the loan transfer of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, according to Fabrizio Romano via his exclusive CaughtOffside column on Substack.
The Blues are closing in on the Portugal international, with Romano explaining that recent poor results and performances persuaded the club board to try to help manager Graham Potter out with a big-name signing up front.
Felix has not quite lived up to expectations at Atletico Madrid, but previously showed immense potential when he was a youngster at Benfica, so this could end up being a smart signing if he can revive his career at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea might not be finished there either, as Romano suggests the addition of Felix shouldn’t affect the west London giants’ pursuit of Borussia Monchengladbach forward Marcus Thuram.
“Chelsea decided to activate Joao Felix option on Monday morning as the injuries and also the results made it urgent,” Romano said.
“They wanted to give Graham Potter more help by signing Felix, talks are progressing well to the final stages. It will be a loan for more than €11m with salary fully covered by Chelsea.
“For Mykhaylo Mudryk, Arsenal remain the leading side; while Marcus Thuram remains on Chelsea’s list, he’s a different kind of player from Felix, so I think there could be room for both of them to join.”
With the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic all struggling for form, it could make sense for CFC to try bringing in both Felix and Thuram this January, in the hope of majorly revamping Potter’s attacking options.
Chelsea have spent big under Todd Boehly, but it’s yet to have the desired impact as the team remains in something of a transitional phase following sweeping changes with the club ownership and management in the last six months or so.