English Premier side Chelsea has completed the signing of Atletico Madrid and Portuguese striker Joao Felix on loan for the rest of the season for a fee of 11 million euros (£9.7m). The player who was the target of Arsenal and Manchester United has now joined Champions League side, Chelsea. The Portugal international has also signed a one-year extension to his Atletico contract until June 2027.
Speaking about his new deal he said: “Chelsea is one of the great teams in the world and I hope to help the team reach their objectives.” “I am very, very happy to be here and very excited to play at Stamford Bridge.” Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid made Felix the fifth most expensive striker in history when they signed from Benfica for £113m in 2019. He has gone on to score 34 goals in 131 appearances in all competitions, with 18 assists.
Joao Felix was part of the Portugal squad at the World Cup and scored one goal in five outings at the tournament as his country reached the quarter-finals. Since then, he has played for Atletico twice, scoring in a 2-0 win against Elche on 29 December before playing 73 minutes in a 1-0 defeat by Barcelona on Sunday. Felix has scored five goals and provided three assists for Atletico in 20 games this season.
He has now joined Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana and Andrey Santos in joining Chelsea during the January transfer window, and signs with the club 10th in the Premier League – 10 points adrift of a top-four spot. They are also out of both cup competitions after losing 4-0 to Manchester City last weekend.