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Former Barcelona loanee Joao Felix is reportedly open to a return to Chelsea. He spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Stamford Bridge, where he mustered four goals in 20 appearances across competitions.
According to Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, Felix has been offered to Chelsea ahead of the new season. This comes after the Blues' £34.5 million move for Atletico Madrid's Samu Omorodion collapsed despite a fee being agreed upon by the two clubs.
ESPN adds that Felix's agent, Jorge Mendes, is now in talks with Chelsea over a potential transfer. The Portuguese forward has evidently struggled at Atletico Madrid since his headline-grabbing £113 million transfer from SL Benfica in 2019.
Felix was out on loan at Barcelona last season, where he largely failed to impress after registering 10 goals and six assists in 44 matches. He has played just once for Atletico since the start of 2023 and still has five years left on his deal at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Chelsea currently have Nicolas Jackson, David Datro Fofana, Armando Broja, Deivid Washington, Marc Guiu, and Romelu Lukaku as their out-and-out centre-forward options. Lukaku, however, has reportedly been transfer-listed with Napoli keeping an eye on his situation in west London.
Former Barcelona loanee and Chelsea-linked Joao Felix confident he has what it takes to win the ultimate prize
Chelsea could be getting themselves a potential future Ballon d'Or winner if they sign Joao Felix. The Portuguese claimed in June that he has what it takes to win arguably the biggest individual honor in the sport despite his recent struggles.
The 24-year-old said in an interview with Nude Project, via Forbes:
"Everyone dreams of winning it. I think I have the qualities to win it. I'm not going to lie. Of course, some things need to improve. Many things have to happen. I'm 24 years old. You have to work hard and believe in it."
Now that Felix's tenure at Barcelona is over, it remains to be seen where he is headed next. So far, he has scored 34 goals and provided 18 assists in 131 games for Los Colchoneros. The 2018-19 season, where he scored 15 times in 26 Liga NOS games, remains the only campaign in his career where he has bagged double-digit league goals so far.
