Chelsea make final decision over Joao Felix’s future amid ‘happy’ claim over Atletico transfer

Chelsea want to sign Joao Felix on a permanent basis from Atletico Madrid this summer, according to reports.

The 23-year-old is currently on loan after signing for £9.7 million back in January until the end of the season.

Felix has settled to life in England quickly, and has become a fan favourite early on at Stamford Bridge.

After receiving a red card on his Chelsea debut against Fulham in January, Felix has gone onto score one goal, which came against West Ham in the 1-1 draw last month.

Talk has surfaced over Felix’s future at Chelsea beyond this season, and the Portugal international stated he was happy with the Blues, however he would not go into further details about where his long-term future lies.

“If I want to stay or not, the future nobody knows,” he said prior to their 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.

“I am only focused on tomorrow’s game. After that, we don’t know what will happen. I am here and the club is so big, it’s amazing. Everyone behind the club is so good so I am happy to be here.”

Chelsea are unlikely to qualify for next season’s Champions League next season unless they win this season’s competition – they are through to the quarter-finals – and Felix indicated that European football will play a factor in his decision.

“Yeah, playing the Champions League is always different. It’s a competition that everyone wants to play. But now I’m focused on this Champions League, on tomorrow’s game. We have a lot of games yet to try to reach the Champions League in the league. It’s not over.

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“But yeah playing Champions League is an important decision but the future no one knows, so let’s see what happens and then we’ll see.”

However, it’s now being reported by Record Portugal that Chelsea are ready to try to make Felix’s loan switch permanent this summer.

It’s claimed the Blues are are ‘very satisfied’ with the professionalism and exhibition level of Felix and will try to negotiate with Atletico this summer to purchase him on a permanent basis.

The Portugal international won’t come cheaply though after Atletico paid €126 million to Benfica in 2019 to sign Felix, who is contracted until June 2027 after penning a further year before joining Chelsea.

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