Mauricio Pochettino’s first major decision as new Chelsea boss is not to sign loanee Joao Felix permanently – despite strong advice from Gary Neville.
Felix, 23, started just seven of Atleti’s 16 La Liga matches this campaign before his loan exit, having fallen out of favour entirely under boss Diego Simeone, despite finding the net four times in his limited game time.
In January, the Portugal international instructed his agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new club which brought about his loan move to Chelsea. The Blues came to a quick-fire agreement with the Spanish club, but the deal will not be made permanent.
Felix has an irreparable relationship with Simeone – the two did not see eye-to-eye and a reconciliation appears deeply unlikely. The Spanish club’s form improved immeasurably after the Portuguese forward’s exit in January – however Felix is not staying at Chelsea.
“We have known for less than 24 hours,” Atleti president Enrique Cerezo confirmed on Tuesday, as per Diario AS. “The Chelsea manager (Pochettino) does not count on him. He will come (return to Atletico) when his commitment ends and we will see what happens. We do not have anything planned, but he is an Atletico Madrid player.”
He did not establish himself in the starting line-up at the Blues in his short stint at the club with multiple attacking options available to Graham Potter and his predecessor Frank Lampard. Felix scored four goals in 20 Chelsea appearances.
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One of those goals came as a consolation for Lampard’s side in their humiliating 4-1 defeat at Manchester United in their penultimate game of the campaign. The forward’s goal was a fine individual effort, drifting past several challenges before providing a long-range finish.
The former Benfica star earned the profuse praise of Sky Sports co-commentator for the game, Gary Neville. He claimed that Felix was the one Chelsea player who was a strong signing this season, but he now looks certain to leave.
"He [Felix] is a proper player, just the way he moves with the ball it looks different," Neville said on the commentary of the Old Trafford game. "He is so in control, class, real class, he has options in front of him but thinks no, I am going to go on my own, really good finish. They [Chelsea] have signed everybody but the one player they should have an option on they haven't got."
