Joao Felix makes bold transfer plea after Chelsea loan spell as forward outlines next club plan
Joao Felix has returned to Atletico Madrid after his loan spell with Chelsea and has already outlined a bold plan for his next club, claiming he would like to join Barcelona.
The Portuguese international comes off the back of a rather unremarkable spell with the Blues, where he made the switch in January hopeful of overturning their fortunes. Instead, things only seemed to get worse on the pitch as the side ended up slumping to 12th-place in the Premier League.
The 23-year-old made 20 appearances for the west London outfit across the league and Champions League formats, adding four goals to his name in that time. A red card on his debut perhaps set the tone for the rest of the campaign, though there was a sense of happiness with being at Chelsea as football.london understood the forward enjoyed his time in London and was open to a stay.
“I don’t know yet my future but these four or five months I’ve loved it,” Felix said earlier in the year when asked about his time at Chelsea and his future. “It’s a top club, everyone in the club is very good to me, my teammates are unbelievable and I really like to be here.”
With his future up in the air, Felix has taken the bold step of outlining where he wants to go next in his career, as Fabrizio Romano said: “Now it’s really important to mention that Joao Felix, in a direct conversation I just had a few minutes ago, told me: ‘I want to go to Barcelona.’
“Joao Felix told me this very clear statement, he added that Barcelona is the biggest dream of his life since he was a kid and it’s his first choice on the market. These are the words from Joao Felix, he added at the end of the conversation that if this happens it would be a dream come true.
“We know it’s never easy to negotiate with Atletico Madrid, we know how the financial situation at Barcelona makes things complicated, so we’re not saying this deal will be easy, but Joao Felix’s position is very clear, the statement from the player is that he wants to go to Barcelona. A very clear message from Joao Felix and a very clear intention to join Barcelona.”
It’s certainly a bold move from Felix to make such a claim, given Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are such fierce rivals in La Liga. That is made even bolder by the fact that the youngster signed a new deal with the Rojiblancos before making his switch to Chelsea on loan, with it lasting until 2027.
Given the financial struggles of Barca, as well as a high price tag set by Atleti, it could be a tough deal to negotiate as few other clubs seem to be linked with a potential switch.
