Dharmesh Sheth shares that Chelsea are forking out ‘£650k-a-week’ in total on Joao Felix’s loan deal from Atletico Madrid, with Arsenal and Manchester United just refusing to meet those demands.
The Portugal international was attracting transfer interest from the Premier League big boys, with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal needing a forward after Gabriel Jesus‘ injury, and Erik ten Hag needing more attacking depth at Old Trafford, but instead, it was Chelsea who won the race for his signature.
This is a straight-up six-month loan deal, and whilst Felix wants to talk about the ‘Chelsea project’, the reason they have beaten Arsenal and Manchester United to this deal is that they ‘blew everyone out of the water’ with what they put on Atletico’s table.
The 23-year-old now joins up with a Graham Potter side that is sitting tenth in the Premier League table and at big risk of missing out on, not only Champions League football, but European football this term.
This could prove to be a very expensive failure if Felix is unable to deliver because he has no time to settle in and he has to make an impact pretty much straightaway for a team that is morale-sapped throughout.
Nonetheless, Sky transfer expert Dharmesh Sheth shared how much Chelsea are forking out for Felix, when you include the loan fee and his wages, as he told The Transfer Show on Sky Sports News (11/01/23).
“At the end of the day, Chelsea went out and basically blew everyone out of the water with regard to what Atletico Madrid wanted for this six-month loan,” said Sheth.
“We know that Arsenal were interested. We know that Manchester United were looking at Joao Felix as well. But neither of those clubs, it wasn’t on the agenda for either of them, simply on the terms that were being quoted.
“If you look at it. It’s a loan fee, plus the wages and if you calculate it for the six-month period that he will be there. The outlay that Chelsea will make a week on Joao Felix is around £650k-a-week.
“Arsenal, yes, they looked into it and they held talks. I was told they were positive talks as well. But at those prices, they weren’t interested. They were looking for a compromise. I think they might have been getting somewhere until Chelsea decided ‘no, we need to bring him in and we will pay what Atletico Madrid want’.”
FELIX IS MORE SUITED TO ARSENAL OR MANCHESTER UNITED
The ironic thing here is that if anyone is paying over the odds for Felix, then it should have been either Arsenal or Manchester United because he suits them best.
Erik ten Hag is looking for that forward to knit everything together, whilst Jesus’ ability outside of the penalty area is going to be hugely missed during his time on the sidelines.
Felix’s ability to play in the pockets, drag the opposition out of position and carry the ball forward would have suited the Premier League table-toppers better than their all-over-the-shop London rivals.
But, instead, with Kai Havertz struggling in this current Chelsea system, the club have opted to just go and secure a short-term deal for his Portuguese brother.
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