According to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea are holding internal talks about signing Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix on a permanent deal this summer.
The Portuguese joined Chelsea on a short-term loan from the Spanish giants in January and he has chipped in with two goals in his 10 appearances to date.
Speaking to Givemesport, Phillips has revealed that ‘internal talks’ are underway and a permanent transfer could be sealed quickly with Atletico willing to negotiate with Chelsea.
He said: “Chelsea were obviously weighing up these decisions and having these internal talks with the hierarchy. It’s a decision that when they feel they’ve made the right one, they think they can push it through fairly quickly in the end and Atletico are obviously willing to negotiate with Chelsea.”
Likely
Felix has been impressive with his link-up play in the final third for Chelsea but has lacked the cutting edge in the front of goal. Chelsea are still keen on signing him for the long-term.
The Portuguese has got into plenty of good scoring positions for the London giants and he could be a potent scoring threat once he adapts to the demands of the Premier League.
Atletico would ideally like to recoup the £112 million fee paid to Benfica four years ago but in reality, they may have to accept a lesser sum to sanction his permanent exit.
Meanwhile, Felix has other admirers such as Manchester United but he will most likely prefer to rejoin Chelsea even if they don’t qualify for next season’s Champions League.
It will be interesting to see whether the change of manager has any influence on Chelsea’s stance on Felix.
The club recently sacked Graham Potter from the managerial role after the 2-0 loss at home to Aston Villa. Bruno Saltor has been placed on interim charge for the season.
The next manager will most likely take control during the summer and he could yet have a say on the club’s transfer plans for Felix, who has not hit the ground running so far.
