Joao Felix: Chelsea ‘reach verbal agreement’ to sign Atletico Madrid and Portugal forward on loan

Chelsea have reportedly reached a verbal agreement to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Felix, 23, joined Atletico in a €126m (£113m) deal from Benfica in 2019 but has only shown flashes of his potential.

He has seemingly fallen out of favour with Atletico head coach Diego Simeone and now looks set to leave the Spanish capital.

According to the Athletic, Chelsea will pay a €11m (£9.68m) loan fee, which is below what Atletico had initially wanted.

Graham Potter’s Chelsea have already signed forward David Datro Fofana from Molde, defender Benoit Badiashile from Monaco and midfielder Andrey Santos from Vasco da Gama this month.

It is reported that more signings could follow with Chelsea said to be “especially keen to revitalise their attack”.

He has five goals and three assists in 20 appearances for Atletico this season.

Speaking about Felix after he returned from the World Cup with Portugal in late December, Atletico boss Simeone said: “No one is indispensable and things will be as they have to be. It is very important for us.

“He has had a good World Cup, he participated in goals with the importance that the coach gave him…Hopefully we can have the best Joao who he saw himself in the World Cup.

“Hopefully we also give him that peace of mind and joy to show in the game all that was seen in the World Cup.”

Felix has struggled for consistency during his time at Atletico but will hope to improve a Chelsea attack which has lacked for goals.

They are the lowest scorers in the top half with just 20 goals in 17 games this season.

According to the Telegraph, Todd Boehly has quit his role as Chelsea’s interim sporting director.

Boehly led the consortium that bought Chelsea last year and has since been involved with transfer negotiations at the club.

However, it is reported he will now continue just as chairman after hiring a new recruitment team.