Journalist Dean Jones has revealed that Chelsea are potentially set to have talks in the next month with Atletico Madrid about turning the Joao Felix loan into a permanent transfer.
What's the latest on Joao Felix and Chelsea?
In the winter, as Todd Boehly splashed the cash on a number of exciting deals, he opened the chequebook to fund a move for the Portuguese star.
Indeed, the Blues forked out a reported £9.69m loan fee plus wages to sign Felix from Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid for the remained of the season.
Since then, the 23-year-old has shown glimpses of his star quality with two goals in his first nine outings and it seems as though he's done enough to have Chelsea considering a permanent deal in the summer.
Indeed, while speaking on Chasing Green Arrows, Jones explained: "For Chelsea, I know that they do plan to have talks reasonably soon, probably next month, with Atletico Madrid.
"Just to see like, 'okay, what is actually the situation we're looking at here? How much is it going to be? What are the terms? What are the conditions? When can we do it?'"
Do Chelsea have the option to sign Felix permanently?
Before leaving Atletico Madrid, the talented forward extended his contract with his parent club by a year, meaning his current deal won't expire until 2027.
What's more, the loan move doesn't actually include an obligation to buy, nor is there a fee set as a possible option to negotiate. However, in an interview with AS (via TalkSport), Felix was able to elaborate on the situation.
He said: “I feel very good at Chelsea, I like the club. There’s no option to buy in the contract, so if they want to keep me, they’ll have to find an agreement with Atlético.”
Felix joined Atletico in a €126m (£111m) deal from Benfica in 2019, so he won't come cheap. But seeing as Boehly has spent £566m since taking charge of the Blues, perhaps he'll be more than happy to splash the cash once more.
Seeing as Felix has started to find his rhythm in a Chelsea shirt recently, it might be hard to let him leave. After all, in the draw with Everton last weekend, he was handing an 8/10 player rating in the Evening Standard.
Journalist Dom Smith noted: "About as effective as any Chelsea player. Turned well, had the beating of Everton’s defence with his pace, and notched his second goal for the club with a precise finish early in the second half."
