Afrigather Now into their third season as Chelsea’s house owners, the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital partnership have lengthy since misplaced their capability to shock with their switch market manoeuvrings.
However confirming a deal value as much as £46.3m to deliver Joao Felix again to Stamford Bridge – lower than two years after his underwhelming mortgage spell on the membership – has managed to boost a number of eyebrows.
Felix turns into Chelsea’s tenth signing of the summer season – and their forty third for the reason that Boehly-Clearlake takeover.
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Gary Neville believes Chelsea may have season however feels their recruitment is ‘chaotic and weird’, and Jamie Carragher questions the place Joao Felix will play
The 24-year-old’s arrival comes simply hours after the £36m departure of Conor Gallagher to Atletico, whose transfer initially stalled after the collapse of Samu Omorodion’s swap from Madrid to Chelsea.
Factoring within the Felix and Gallagher offers, Chelsea could have collected an estimated web spend of over £800m below their present house owners – virtually double the overall of some other Premier League aspect over the identical interval.
Jamie Carragher has overtly questioned Chelsea’s resolution to re-sign Felix and requested how Chelsea plan to accommodate one other attacking participant of their already bloated squad.
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The deal must be positioned into the context of the Blues’ want to promote Gallagher. The midfielder turned down the supply of a brand new two-year deal in west London and would have been in a position to stroll away at no cost subsequent summer season.
Promoting Gallagher now allowed Chelsea to boost £36m on a participant they developed by way of their academy. This can instantly be added to their accounts as ‘pure revenue’ – a invaluable increase within the period of Profitability and Sustainability Guidelines.
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That Atletico wanted to promote a participant with the intention to afford Gallagher – and that the funds are coming from Chelsea by way of their buy of Felix – speaks to the complexities of the monetary guidelines.
Assuming all the add-ons within the deal for Felix – who is ready to signal a six-year deal – are triggered, Chelsea will be capable of unfold the £46.3m price of his signing throughout the utmost five-year interval.
Meaning Felix will probably be listed as an annual price of round £9m on Chelsea’s accounts. Distinction that to elevating £36m for Gallagher and the offers will end in a £27m revenue for the membership this 12 months.
But when Felix’s signing is smart for Chelsea’s accountants, the logic is tougher to pin down for Enzo Maresca as he spends the primary months of his reign making an attempt to kind a cohesive staff from the massive variety of gamers at his disposal.
Felix will probably be competing for a spot as an attacking midfielder or ahead with Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson and Pedro Neto, whereas Omari Kellyman and Marc Guiu are on the fringes.
Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Angelo Gabriel, Deivid Washington and David Fofana additionally all stay on Chelsea’s books.
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Chelsea will argue a lot of these gamers will go away earlier than the switch window closes on August 30. However discovering new golf equipment for gamers handed prolonged contracts is simpler mentioned than executed.
Felix has spent the vast majority of his profession taking part in behind a striker or on the left wing – together with throughout his 20-game stint at Chelsea within the 2022/23 season – however Nkunku and Neto specifically could also be uncomfortable with that concept.
“They’re shopping for Felix – the place’s he going to play?” requested Carragher. “They signed Neto every week in the past – the place’s he going to play while you’ve received Palmer already?
“The place would you play Fernandez, a £100m participant? The place would you play Nkunku?”
The Portugal worldwide’s time in west London was largely forgettable, contributing 4 targets and nil assists earlier than being despatched on mortgage to Barcelona for the next marketing campaign.
However when Felix’s stats per 90 minutes with Chelsea, his performances seem in a extra constructive mild, rating first amongst his team-mates for targets scored and second for profitable take-ons.
Felix additionally had the misfortune of becoming a member of Chelsea at their lowest ebb, profitable simply 4 of the matches during which he performed as Graham Potter and Frank Lampard toiled within the dugout.
Curiously, a way of Felix having underperformed regardless of producing an inexpensive output is a sample repeated at Atletico. Regardless of being surplus to necessities below Diego Simeone for the previous few seasons, solely two gamers – Alvaro Morata and Luis Suarez – have scored extra targets per 90 minutes for the membership since he signed in 2019.
Felix was additionally an everyday below Xavi at Barcelona final season, producing 10 targets and 6 assists in 44 video games, however a everlasting transfer didn’t materialise.
Maybe Felix is a sufferer of one thing over which he had no management – the exorbitant payment Atletico paid Benfica for his companies in 2019.
The LaLiga aspect paid greater than £100m to signal the then-19-year-old after his breakout season in Portugal. Most gamers would wrestle to stay as much as that price ticket.
One other criticism of Felix is that he’s a ‘luxurious participant’ – enjoyable to look at and with undoubted high quality, however not a confirmed matchwinner.
There’s proof to again up that suggestion. Felix ranked poorly for ball recoveries per 90 at Chelsea and Barcelona over the previous two seasons, whereas he didn’t contribute an help throughout his earlier stint within the Premier League.
Felix additionally has a dreadful report within the greatest matches, failing to attain in 9 finals or semi-finals at membership stage, and recording only one purpose in seven matches at main tournaments for Portugal.
Like with so a lot of Chelsea’s current signings, Felix is a bet. If Maresca can succeed the place Simeone, Potter and Lampard all – to some extent – failed and persistently extract the ahead’s undoubted potential, then £46.3m may seem like cash properly spent.
However Chelsea have additionally paid appreciable charges on quite a few different attacking gamers – they usually cannot all play. It is simply one other problem for Maresca to beat in what’s simply his second full season as a head coach.
