Portuguese attacker Joao Felix appears set to remain at Chelsea for another year despite the fact that Chelsea will not be playing in the UEFA Champions League next season.
Joao Felix had earlier indicated that qualification for Europe’s elite club competition would influence his choice on if he would remain in England or return to Spain.
However, the possibility of an additional campaign in the Premier League is looking like the most probable outcome even though Chelsea will not be playing in the UEFA Champions League.
Atletico Madrid gaffer Diego Simone has progressed onward since the Portuguese left the Spanish capital during the winter transfer window.
Atleti have won 12 and lost just one of 16 matches since he left the club on a half-year contract to Chelsea which earned the Spanish club about £9.7 million.
Diego Simone is focused on making the deal a permanent one but the hierarchy of Atletico Madrid are demanding £88m for Joao Felix, who has lost his starting place at Chelsea in recent weeks.
Felix has been on the bench for the last three encounters under caretaker manager Frank Lampard.
The 23-year-old is comfortable in London and happy to remain but wants assurances from the next permanent manager that he will get matches under his belt.
According to reports, Todd Boehly’s Chelsea are eyeing former Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint Germain manager, Mauricio Pochettino as next head coach.
Based on that and the likelihood of Chelsea hesitant to pay the complete asking price for Joao Felix, a resultant second loan is possible.
What it would cost to keep Joao Felix at Chelsea
It would cost Chelsea’s American co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Egbhali about £18million in fees including the Portuguese’s salary of around £250,000-per-week if they decide to keep him at the club for one more season.
Although Mauricio Pochettino is a few steps away from officially agreeing to become next Chelsea manager, summer arrangements for the players have already began.
Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli who is on-loan at Inter Milan would return from Italy and conversations will be done to try to make the Belgian give the Blues another shot following his poor campaign under former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel.
Mason Mount’s future at Chelsea also looks uncertain
There are also talks concerning the future of Mason Mount at Chelsea with reports indicating that he could join Manchester United or Liverpool next summer.
In the space of three weeks, Chelsea have lost out of the possibility of acquiring top brains like Julian Naglesmann and Luis Enrique due to both managers pulling out of the hunt to become Chelsea’s next head coach.
That has left them with names like Mauricio Pochettino, Vicent Kompany and Ange Postecoglou but strong sources claim the owners of Chelsea have opted for Mauricio Pochettino.
The fate of Joao Felix is uncertain with these managers but the 23-year-old has netted just 2 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions for Chelsea which might not convince a new manager to give him more game time.
