{"id":96044,"date":"2023-08-30T19:21:28","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T19:21:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/30\/chelsea-consider-rivalling-barcelona-with-joao-felix-bid\/"},"modified":"2023-08-30T19:21:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T19:21:28","slug":"chelsea-consider-rivalling-barcelona-with-joao-felix-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/08\/30\/chelsea-consider-rivalling-barcelona-with-joao-felix-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea consider rivalling Barcelona with Joao Felix bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Felix faces an uncertain future \/ Denis Doyle\/Getty Images
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Chelsea are considering a\u00a0move\u00a0to bring Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix back to the club,\u00a090min<\/em>\u00a0understands.<\/p>\n

Felix spent the second half of last season on loan at Stamford Bridge, making 20 appearances in all competitions and chipping in with four goals, before returning to Atletico at the end of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Since then, Felix has failed to play a minute for Atletico and has\u00a0publicly admitted his desire to join Barcelona, who are interested in landing the 23-year-old but are currently focused on getting the signing of Joao Cancelo from Manchester City over the line.<\/p>\n

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Barcelona\u00a0have not yet decided whether to formally pursue a move for Felix. The emergence of 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, coupled with the decisions to keep Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Raphinha, mean the La Liga champions may not have the space in the squad for another forward.<\/p>\n

While Barcelona remains Felix\u2019s preferred landing spot,\u00a090min<\/em>\u00a0understands the Portugal international\u2019s agents have remained in contact with\u00a0Chelsea\u00a0since his departure earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Chelsea officials explored a permanent move for Felix last season but ultimately pulled out at the request of new manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has since spoken openly about his desire to sign a new creative, versatile forward.<\/p>\n

After a move for Crystal Palace\u2019s Michael Olise collapsed and\u00a0an enquiry over Arsenal\u2019s Emile Smith Rowe was rejected, Chelsea are now understood to be considering bringing Felix, who is known to have enjoyed his time in London, back to Stamford Bridge.<\/p>\n

The final decision will rest with Pochettino but there are a number of figures on the Chelsea board who believe Felix could be the kind of player the new boss is keen to sign.<\/p>\n

Having paid \u20ac126m (\u00a3113m) in 2019,\u00a0Atletico\u00a0are keen to part ways with Felix and are expected to be open to another loan move, which could appeal to Pochettino after the Chelsea manager spoke of the need to find a forward who does not block Armando Broja\u2019s pathway to the first-team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot sometimes go for some player that maybe will stop a player we have,\u201d Pochettino said last week. \u201cMaybe we have to be patient and try to adapt our squad to try and get positive results, waiting for Armando to get fully fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Barcelona,\u00a0a final agreement over Cancelo\u2019s loan move from Manchester City has yet to be reached\u00a0but is not far off. Once that deal is completed, the club will have to evaluate whether signing Felix is financially feasible.<\/p>\n

Barcelona president\u00a0Joan Laporta recently insisted\u00a0the club will have the capability to sign more than one player before the end of the transfer window, although whether that includes someone with Felix\u2019s high wages remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

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