Joao Felix set for Chelsea return?

The future of the Atletico Madrid attacking midfielder is up in the air, but the Portugal international could be returning to Stamford Bridge this summer.

One of the longest running stories of the 2024 Summer Transfer Window has been around the future of Atletico Madrid attacking midfielder Joao Felix. The likes of FC Barcelona, Benfica, and Aston Villa have been credited with an interest, but it looks like Chelsea may be the front runners for his signature.

Felix has of course had a spell with the Blues before, having spent the duration of the 2022/23 season with the West London club. In this time, he made a total of 20 appearances in all competitions, 16 of which came in the Premier League where he scored 4 goals overall.

According to a report from The Sun, Chelsea have made a bid of £56 million to prise Felix away from Atletico Madrid this summer. It remains to be seen whether he will return to the club or not, but the situation should become clearer over the next few days and weeks.

If Joao Felix does put pen to paper on a permanent contract with Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea, he follows Tosin Adarabioyo (Free Transfer, Fulham), Marc Guiu (£5 million, FC Barcelona), Caleb Wiley (£8.5 million), Renato Veiga (£12 million, FC Basel), Aaron Anselmino (£15 million, Boca Juniors), Omari Kellyman (£19 million, Aston Villa), Filip Jorgensen (£20.7 million, Villarreal), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£30 million, Leicester City), and Pedro Neto (£54 million, Wolves) in joining the club ahead of the new season.

Felix began his career as a youth player with Os Pestinhas in 2007, before joining FC Porto’s youth academy a year later in 2008. He was with the Dragons for 7 years, during which he had a loan spell with Padroense in the 2014/15 campaign. It was in 2015 that Felix made the move to Benfica.

Fast forward to the 2018/19 season, which saw the attacking midfielder promoted to the first team ahead of the campaign, making his debut in a Primeira Liga game against Boavista on 18th August 2018, which his side won 2 – 0.

His first senior goal for Benfica came in the Lisbon Derby against Sporting Club in a 1 – 1 stalemate, becoming the youngest player to have ever found the back of the net in this highly prestigious derby at the age of 18.

By the end of that season, he had scored a spectacular 20 goals in 36 appearances with 11 assists to boot. 15 of these goals and 9 of these assists came in the Portuguese top flight alone, where his efforts helped Benfica to a 37th league title after finishing top of the tree with a grand total of 87 points, two ahead of runners-up and rivals Porto.

Joao Felix’s time at Benfica then came to an end when he agreed a £113 million (€126 million) transfer to Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid on 3rd July 2019, signing a seven year contract expiring in 2026.

His first season in the Spanish Capital (2019/20) saw him make 27 appearances in La Liga, scoring 6 goals whilst also collecting an assist in a season that saw the Rojiblancos settle for a 3rd place finish with 70 points to their name from 38 matches overall.

Silverware then followed for Felix and Atletico Madrid in the 2020/21 campaign. After 38 games, they had a total of 86 points, which was enough to see them seal an 11th Spanish top flight title. They finished 2 points ahead of cross city rivals Real Madrid, and 7 points clear of FC Barcelona in third place.

During this title winning campaign, Joao Felix made 31 appearances in La Liga, scoring 7 goals whilst also providing 6 assists. Chances are that the Portugal international would have made more goal contributions had it not been for some injuries that he experienced that year.

He was declared Atletico Madrid’s player of the season in 2021/22, where he scored no less than 10 goals as well as getting 6 assists in 35 matches in all competitions. 8 of the goals and 4 of the assists came in his 24 La Liga appearances, helping Simeone’s side to a 3rd place finish with 71 points in total.

Joao Felix spent half of the 2022/23 campaign with Atleti, scoring 4 goals and getting 3 assists in 14 matches in the league before moving on loan to Chelsea on 11th January 2023 for the remainder of that season. Chelsea finished in 12th place with a total of 44 points at the end of that year.

Then came the aforementioned 4 goals in 16 Premier League matches (20 in all competitions), before he joined FC Barcelona on loan for the whole of last season (2023/24).

In 44 appearances in all competitions, Felix got 10 goals and 6 assists for the Blaugrana, with 7 of his goals and 3 of these assists coming in La Liga. Following a season where his efforts helped Barcelona to a 2ndplace finish with 85 points.

This would be an exciting signing, as Felix would add even more attacking prowess to the Chelsea front line and it would boost hopes of a return to the UEFA Champions League come the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

There is plenty of excitement and anticipation ahead of the 2024/25 Premier League season, and there is strong optimism that Chelsea can enjoy a very successful campaign in the English Top Flight with Enzo Maresca’s side targeting a top four finish.

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