The Athletic’s David Ornstein has reported that Arsenal look set to miss out on the signing of Joao Felix on loan to Chelsea in January.
Ornstein stated that while Mikel Arteta and Co., alongside Manchester United were keen on signing the 23-year-old, the project in place at Stamford Bridge ‘appealed’ to the Atletico Madrid forward.
However, in our view, Arsenal made the right call by not completing a loan switch for Felix.
In our view: Arsenal made the right choice by letting Joao Felix join Chelsea on loan in January
Firstly, Fabrizio Romano told Caught Offside that Arsenal deemed the move ‘too expensive’ for the Chelsea-bound star, which is why they decided not to bring in Joao Felix on loan.
While many felt the Portuguese international would suit the false 9 role in Arteta’s system, we believe the club made the correct choice by backing out of the deal.
Despite the popular opinion that Joao Felix is an extremely versatile player, the reality is that his skillset is the one that is multifaceted.
Much like Paulo Dybala, Felix is a hybrid between a striker and a No.10, but is not actually either.
As a result, the Atleti flop would only have provided cover for Eddie Nketiah up front.
While Joao Felix is certainly a lot more creative than Nketiah, with the great Kaka even claiming he is more technical than he was, the 0-0 draw to Newcastle proved that Arsenal perhaps need a creator much more than an actual goalscorer.
On days where Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are not at their best, the question remains, which player creates chances?
Some may retort by mentioning Felix but then the question becomes, for whom, as both Nketiah and him cannot play in the same XI.
If Joao Felix could operate out wide and offer cover in every single forward position, it would have made sense for Arsenal to go all out to beat Chelsea in order to sign him on loan.
But considering the ex-Benfica sensation is ‘position-less’ in some ways while not even being the club’s biggest priority, it makes complete sense why they chose not to pay top dollar to bring him in, considering the reported £9.7 million loan fee, as per David Ornstein is sizable to say the least.
One could make a stronger argument for why Mykhaylo Mudryk or even a backup to Thomas Partey in January are bigger transfer priorities for Arsenal than the Chelsea-bound Joao Felix in January.
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