Joao Felix: Chelsea pay eight-figure loan fee to make Portugal and Atletico Madrid star the 12th signing under Todd Boehly
Chelsea have continued their recruitment drive by signing Portugal forward Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid for the rest of the season.
The 23-year-old is the 12th player to join since Todd Boehly’s consortium bought the Premier League club from Roman Abramovich for £2.5bn last summer.
Chelsea are believed to have agreed to pay Atletico a loan fee of almost £10m (€11m) to borrow Felix until June.
The Blues will also have to meet the player’s salary costs, which are reported to be around £250,000 (€280,000) per week.
“Chelsea is one of the great teams in the world and I hope to help the team reach their objectives, so I am very, very happy to be here and very excited to play at Stamford Bridge,” he said.
Felix could make his debut in Thursday’s Premier League fixture against west London neighbours Fulham.
He is Chelsea’s fourth arrival of the January transfer window alone, following Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, Ivorian forward David Datro Fofana and Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos.
Felix can play across the front line or as a No10 and has already won two league titles, first as a teenager at Benfica and then in Madrid two seasons ago.
He moved to Spain for €126m (£111m) in 2019, a deal that represented a club record for Atletico and made him the fourth most expensive player ever.
But he has become surplus to requirements in LaLiga, opening the door for a move to the Premier League.
Chelsea are reported to have seen off rival interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, who are also in the market for forwards this month.