Joao Felix signs for Chelsea

The Portugal international returns to Stamford Bridge on a permanent basis, and has signed an initial seven year contract with the Blues.

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea have been very busy in the 2024 Summer Transfer Market, and the latest player to walk through the doors at Cobham is a familiar face – Joao Felix. The Portuguese forward had a loan spell with the West London Club back in the second half of the 2022/23 season.

In his first stint at the club, he made 20 appearances in all competitions, scoring 4 goals. He now joins permanently, where he’ll be looking to help his side to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Signing an initial seven year contract at Stamford Bridge, Felix has joined the club for a reported fee of £46.3 million from La Liga Giants Atletico Madrid, led by Head Coach Diego Simeone. Shortly before his move to Chelsea was confirmed, England international midfielder and youth academy product Conor Gallagher completed his move the other way to the Spanish Capital for a rumoured fee of £36 million.

Upon joining the club on a permanent basis, Joao Felix had the following to say (via Chelsea’s Official Website): “It’s a chance for me to find a home. After two loans, Chelsea and Barca, I needed to stay permanently in one place. There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea. I see a perfect place to shine.

“It was a little bit of a lot of things that made me want to come back: the project, the club, the league, the fans, the time I spent here that I loved. I felt really good when I was here, despite the results we had. I’m really happy to be back.

“I’ve developed as a player in a lot of ways: the perception of the game, and the spaces the ball can arrive easily where I can make more impact,’ he explains. ‘I try to figure it out by watching some videos of me of my games.

“I’ve kind of changed since I was last here. I’m 24 now. I’ll be 25 in November. I feel like I grew up as a player. That’s normal with age. I’m more prepared for the Premier League.

“I feel like my best years are ahead of me. I have no doubt about that. The best years are still to come. And this year is going to be a good year, because now I am permanently at home, and I can enjoy home.”

Joao Felix spent the duration of last season (2023/24) on loan at La Liga heavyweights FC Barcelona, and in the Spanish Top Flight, he was able to score 7 goals whilst getting 3 assists to boot in his 30 appearances in the league. His efforts helped the Blaugrana to a 2^nd place finish with a total of 85 points to their name from their 38 matches – 10 behind title winners Real Madrid.

He began his career at Os Pestinhas in 2007 before moving on to join the academy at Portuguese giants FC Porto a year later in 2008. He would go on to spend 7 years with the Dragons, which included a loan spell with Padroense in the 2014/15 season. He would then join Benfica in 2015.

Felix became part of the first team at Benfica in 2018, and he made his senior debut for the club on 18th August 2018 in a 2 – 0 Primeira Liga victory away from home against Boavista.

Fast forward to 11th April 2019, which was the day in which Joao Felix, aged 19 years and 152 days, became the youngest player to ever score a hat trick in the entire history of the prestigious UEFA Europa League, when he did so in a 4 – 2 victory for Benfica in a game against German Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.

A short time later, on 3rd July 2019, Joao Felix became an Atletico Madrid player for a fee of no less than €126 million (£113 million). The 2019/20 season was his debut campaign with the club, where he scored 6 goals and got 2 assists in 30 appearances across all competitions.

It was in the 2020/21 season when Felix got his hands on some silverware, winning the La Liga title with Atletico Madrid that year, with his contributions in the league seeing him score 7 goals and get 6 assists to boot in 31 appearances in the league. Atleti ended up with a points total of 86 points – 2 ahead of runners-up Real Madrid.

Felix’s form continued into the 2021/22 campaign, where would go on to score a total of 8 goals, whilst also getting 4 assists in 24 LaLiga matches that year, helping his club to a 3rd place finish with a total of 71 points to their name.

The Portuguese international forward was then able to score 4 goals and get 3 assists in 24 appearances in the first half of the 2022/23 season, before that aforementioned loan spell with Chelsea for the latter half of that campaign, and his season long loan spell with FC Barcelona in the 2023/24 season.

Excitement and anticipation for his first game since becoming a permanent Chelsea player is building, and he could be making his debut for Enzo Maresca’s side in their game in the Premier League against Wolves away from home at Molineux on Sunday 25th August 2024 in a 14:00 kick-off.

Chelsea’s next game will see them take on Swiss side Servette in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League Play-Off tie at Stamford Bridge on Thursday 22nd August 2024 in an 8pm kick-off in West London.

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