Chelsea have reached a verbal agreement to sign Joao Felix on loan for around £10m, without an option to buy the Atletico Madrid man.
David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that Chelsea now have a verbal agreement to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.
Though the deal hasn’t been signed yet, Chelsea are expected to pay €11m (£9.69m) to bring the forward in, ahead of interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.
The Daily Record had initially broken the news that Chelsea had offered to sign Felix, adding that the player is keen to join the London club.
However, Atletico are holding off on finalising the loan as they try to secure a potential replacement.
Marca report that the deal will be a simple loan without an option to buy. Fabrizio Romano also claims no buy option has been discussed.
Atletico are clearly keen to see what permanent offers they can get in the summer.
Various sources had linked Arsenal with a move for Felix, with the Gunners reportedly pursuing both the Portuguese international and a permanent deal for Mykhaylo Mudryk this month.
Ornstein had reported that Atletico initially wanted €15m for the loan, and Felix’s wages would cost another €6m. Arsenal were unwilling to pay that amount, and €11m doesn’t sound significantly more appealing.
On the surface of it, it’s hard to see why anyone would want to join this Chelsea side over Arsenal right now, a day after they got smashed 4-0 by Manchester City.
But there probably is some logic in this particular decision for Felix.
He knows it’s only a loan move, and he knows he needs to make the most of it to get a permanent transfer somewhere in the summer.
Chelsea are dreadful, and he’ll surely have the chance to start every week for them.
At Arsenal, Felix might have a starting role at first, but when Gabriel Jesus returns he may well lose it.
On the other hand, it’s hard to see how six months starting at an underperforming side fighting to stay in the top half of the Premier League will convince anyone to pay Atletico Madrid’s demands. We’ll see.