A few years ago, a highly respected executive at a leading European club made up his mind on João Félix while watching him play for Benfica. The potential was obvious, but an asking price of around £100m felt steep for a player who was not a certainty to make it at the very highest level.
Speaking to an acquaintance at the game, the executive said he would not be able to justify himself to his bosses if Félix failed to perform. It was better, he explained, to let a club slightly lower down the food chain take the gamble and meet Benfica’s demands. The thinking was calculated like this: either Félix would develop into a more rounded player after leaving Benfica for one of Europe’s top leagues, at which stage the bigger club would feel comfortable that buying him for an even bigger fee would not be a risk or it would turn out that the executive’s instincts about the forward were right all along.
Recruitment is never easy. While others stood aside, Atlético Madrid took the plunge and paid £113m for Félix after he helped Benfica to the Portuguese title in 2019. There was buzz and excitement, plus a sense that Atlético were heading towards a more refined style under the disciplined, defensive-minded Diego Simeone.
Maybe it was a case of wrong time, wrong place. Although he was part of Atlético winning La Liga in 2021, he never truly looked at ease. Five years on, there were no tears about him moving to Chelsea for an initial €50m. It was a deal that suited everyone, assuming Enzo Maresca is capable of working out where to fit another creative player into his team and is capable of succeeding where Graham Potter and Frank Lampard failed with Félix when the 24-year-old spent the second half of 2022-23 on loan at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea have tried to talk up the signing as a form of homecoming. They still have fond memories of Félix’s first spell, even though he went back to Spain after scoring four goals in 20 games, and there was a warm reception for the Portugal international when he was introduced to the crowd before Chelsea won the first leg of their Europa Conference League playoff against Servette on Thursday.
But the sight of Félix tapping the badge on his chest and waving to supporters will not satisfy those who see his return to west London through a more cynical lens. There was, it must be noted, an element of needs must given Chelsea’s move for another Atlético forward, Samu Omorodion, had broken down. A fix was required for Conor Gallagher’s pure-profit-generating transfer to go through.
Luckily, Félix’s agent, Jorge Mendes, was able to provide a solution. Mendes is close to Atlético and had just helped another client, Pedro Neto, secure a move from Wolves to Chelsea. Hey, how about taking João as well? Won’t that solve the problem with Gallagher?
Maresca has said he is happy to have added Félix to a selection of creators and wide players featuring Cole Palmer, Mykhailo Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku, Noni Madueke, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Neto. A source close to one attacking player worries the deal does not make sense from a footballing perspective. Will Félix, Nkunku and Palmer combine, or will they try to play in the same spaces?
Maresca is confident he will find the right blend. Room is being made for Félix and Neto by the ruthless exclusion of Raheem Sterling, who is apparently not Maresca’s “type of winger”. Carney Chukwuemeka has also drifted to the margins.
Some players are seen as ripe for development, whereas others are out in the cold. Maresca, who takes his team to Wolves on Sunday afternoon, has talked about helping Félix fulfil his potential. He sees him playing wide, as a No 10 or even as a No 9 in certain situations.
The worry, though, is whether this is a player Chelsea truly needed. They will say yes, bearing in mind their participation in the Conference League and next summer’s expanded Club World Cup, but there are misgivings. It cannot be ideal for Maresca to have so many forwards who have struggled to stay fit or to produce on a consistent basis. Palmer is the only certainty. The others have much to prove. Félix, who scored seven league goals while on loan at Barcelona last season, falls into that category.
A source close to Atlético says the criticism was that he “lacks fire in the belly”. Félix has had a difficult summer; he made one start and one substitute appearance at Euro 2024 and missed the decisive spot-kick when Portugal lost their quarter-final to France on penalties.
That lack of ruthlessness was not a surprise. Félix is a lovely player to watch, with his imaginative touches and impudent technique, but his finishing is not elite. It was common during his loan at Chelsea to see him hit the woodwork at the end of a winding run. He also seemed to struggle with the pace of the Premier League. Mauricio Pochettino had little interest in signing him on a permanent basis.
With the Argentinian out of the building, though, Chelsea have gone back. Unlike that top executive all those years ago, they have taken the plunge. Their task is to make sure Félix’s talent finally finds a home.
