Chelsea manager Graham Potter has been told to sign “luxury player” Joao Felix on a permanent basis by former player Glen Johnson. However, he added the club should prioritise other areas first, as they are in greater need of fixing.
Once those issues have been solved, then Johnson believes Felix has the quality to complete the line-up and thrive in more suitable conditions. “He’s a player that’s technically very good and has a good football brain, however, I just believe that Chelsea have bigger issues at the moment in terms of laying their foundation and finding the spine of their team,” Johnson told Betfred.
“Joao Felix is a luxury player that comes into a team as the final piece of the puzzle and that’s when you’d see him at his best. He needs to be playing in a good team that has the ball for the majority of the time during a game, and that isn’t Chelsea at the moment.
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“He’s a great player and they should look to sign him permanently, but they shouldn’t if they have to break the bank for him because they’ve got bigger fires to put out currently.”
Chelsea beat off competition from Manchester Utd and Arsenal to the signing of Felix on loan for the rest of the season in January. While his first appearance against Fulham showed signs of creativity and attacking threat, it was ultimately marred by a horror tackle on Kenny Tete which saw the Portugal international him sent off.
Since returning from suspension, Felix has been a mainstay in the side, with Saturday’s clash against Leicester City his seventh consecutive start, although he was withdrawn at half-time with Chelsea 2-1 in front. Felix's loan will expire at the end of the season, when - as things stand - he will head back to Atletico Madrid.
However, both parties appear to want a permanent move with Felix well-liked at Stamford Bridge, while his relationship with Atletico boss Diego Simeone appears unrepairable. Atletico spent a club-record £113million on Felix and it's likely the Spanish club will want to recoup a fee somewhere close to what they spent in 2019.
According to a recent report from Cadena SER, Chelsea are willing to fork out £70million to acquire his services this summer. However, his club teammate Koke, when discussing the January departures of Matheus Cunha and Felix, revealed he is expecting the latter back in Madrid next season.
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, via Goal, he said: "They were important players within the team. They made the decision to leave. Joao transferred and Cunha transferred. They are decisions of each one. Totally respectable. Joao is picking up the rhythm of the games, he is gaining confidence for the coming season to come back here. And to Cunha wish him all the best."
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