Joao Felix didn’t help the optics of his hugely expensive loan to Chelsea on Thursday, getting sent off on his debut against Fulham.

Arsenal and Chelsea were both interested in signing Joao Felix in the January transfer window, but the Blues ended up winning the race by offering a financial package the Gunners were simply unwilling to meet.

Though that meant Graham Potter got his man, it also put a bit of pressure on Felix to perform, particularly as he’s only with Chelsea for the next few months.

At first, things seemed to be going pretty well, with Felix putting in a decent debut display. Then he went diving in on Kenny Tete and picked up a straight red card. You can watch the incident here or below from 1:52.

Chelsea went on to lose the match, and Felix will now be suspended for three games. His loan is effectively on hold for a month, as he won’t be available again until February 11th.

The Fulham fans sang “what a waste of money” in the stands, and they’ll be particularly pleased with the red card. They’re set to face Chelsea again before Felix’s suspension ends.

Before joining Chelsea, Felix extended his contract with Atletico Madrid to 2027. He doesn’t have an option to buy in his loan deal, and he’ll cost around £15m with the loan fee and wages.

Neither Manchester United nor Arsenal were willing to pay that amount, and you can see why.

Felix is on a five-month loan, and one mistake has already cut that to four months. To get £15m of value out of four months of football is not an easy task.