In the final few hours of the winter transfer window, AC Milan announced the arrival of Joao Felix on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season. The forward’s deadline-day departure from Stamford Bridge to San Siro was simultaneously shocking and utterly unsurprising.
Felix had only joined Chelsea from Atletico Madrid for £45 million ($59m) last summer, and while it was nothing more than a blatant act of book-balancing by the two clubs involved – Conor Gallagher had also moved in the opposition direction in a technically separate but clearly connected transaction – the Portuguese viewed it “as a chance to find a home”.
“After two loans, at Chelsea and Barcelona, I need to stay permanently in one place,” Felix told the Blues’ official website. “There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea.”
Felix couldn’t have been more wrong, though. Despite scoring on his second Chelsea debut, he started just three Premier League games during the first half of the season, with the majority of his minutes coming in the Conference League and domestic cup competitions, making a move imperative for one of the game’s great enigmas.
So, will a move to Milan be the making of Felix? Or will he be back at Chelsea in four months’ time facing an even more uncertain future?