Chelsea agree £9m loan deal to sign Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid 

Chelsea have reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid to sign João Félix on loan in a deal worth about £9 million as part of an attempt to strengthen Graham Potter’s attack during the January transfer window.

Félix, the 23-year-old Portuguese forward, has been the subject of interest from Manchester United and Arsenal but decided to move to Stamford Bridge for the rest of the season.

Chelsea are in a run of poor form with one Premier League win in eight games but Potter, the head coach, has had to contend with a vast number of injuries to key players.

The club’s owners remain fully supportive of Potter and believe he is the right man to lead their long-term project.

Todd Boehly, the chairman, has stepped back from his role as interim sporting director with the arrival of a new recruitment team which will put Christopher Vivell and Paul Winstanley in charge of transfers.

The recruitment team has been looking to actively improve the squad this month, having already added David Datro Fofana, Benoît Badiashile and now Félix, who has scored five goals and provided three assists for Atletico this season.

Félix became the fifth most expensive player in history when Atletico paid Benfica £113 million him in 2019 when he was just 19 years old.

Chelsea are aiming to support Potter with further attacking options and have stepped up interest in Marcus Thuram, the Borussia Mönchengladbach forward, whose contract expires in the summer.

The 25-year-old, son of France World Cup winner Lilian Thuram, is the subject of interest from clubs across Europe.

The Times understands Chelsea are also considering a move for the PSV Eindhoven and England Under-21 forward Noni Madueke.

Chelsea are also keen on a back-up option to Reece James at right back and a new midfielder this month. Talks between Benfica and Chelsea are still ongoing regarding the World Cup winning midfielder Enzo Fernández despite the Portuguese club’s manager, Roger Schmidt, declaring any possible deal off. Fernández, 21, who missed training in an attempt to push through the move to Stamford Bridge, has a release clause of £106 million.

“This question is closed,” Schmidt said. “He’s one of our players. He’s happy, training well, he’s part of the team.”

As reported by The Times, Chelsea are considering Brighton & Hove Albion’s Alexis Mac Allister as a potential option to strengthen midfield this summer but, like Fernández, are unwilling to overpay for the 24-year-old.

Chelsea remain interested in signing the Shakhtar Donetsk forward Mikhaylo Mudryk after holding positive talks with Darijo Srna, the Ukrainian club’s director of football, last week. Arsenal are optimistic that north London is Mudryk’s preferred option.

João Félix is in football’s record books as the fourth most expensive player of all time after his £113 million move from Benfica to Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019. Three-and-a-half years on, at the midway point of a seven-year contract in Spain which is widely considered to have been a failure, Félix is on his way out after agreeing a loan move with Chelsea.

Félix was one of the world’s most highly-rated prodigies as he emerged from the Benfica academy, scoring 15 goals in 26 appearances for the senior team in his first season. The then 19-year-old won the prestigious Golden Boy trophy, a gong won by Kylian Mbappé, Matthijs de Ligt, Erling Haaland and Pedri, among others, in recent years.

Félix, 23, was named fans’ player of the year at Atletico last season but has struggled for consistency, scoring only six goals in 25 appearances for club and country this season. He is widely considered to be a failed signing for Atletico although opinion was split over allowing him to leave the club.

Félix performed well for Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar but his relationship with the Atletico head coach, Diego Simeone, had collapsed and he sought a move elsewhere, with the Premier League considered the preferred option. Félix has scored 34 times in 131 appearances since his move to Atletico.

“[João Félix] is the biggest bet this club has taken in its history. I personally think he’s a top talent, a world-class player,” Gil Marin, the Atletico CEO, said last month. “For reasons it isn’t worth getting into — the relationship between him and the boss [Simeone], the minutes played, his motivation right now — it makes you think that the reasonable thing is that if there’s an option that’s good for the player, good for the club, we can look at it. I’d love him to stay personally, but I don’t think that’s the player’s idea.”

Chelsea will hope that, in west London, Félix finds the form many believe he is capable of.