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Joao Felix has hinted that he would be interested in joining Chelsea on a permanent basis, but the Atletico Madrid loanee is unsure what the future holds for him beyond this season.
An expensive six-month loan deal was struck between Chelsea and Atletico in January to bring Felix to Stamford Bridge for the remainder of the season, and crucially, there is no option for the Blues to make the deal permanent as part of this loan contract.
Felix open to permanent Chelsea move
It means that Chelsea would have to negotiate a traditional transfer with the Spanish side if they did choose to try and keep Felix around beyond this season, and the 23-year-old admitted he does not yet know whether that will be an option.
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“I feel very good at Chelsea, I like the club. They don’t have a purchase option, so they’d have to reach an agreement with Atletico," Felix said to AS.
"I’ve only been here for a few weeks or so, a month. I’m still getting to know my new surroundings.
"I really like it here, but it’s impossible to say what’ll happen in the future."
On his future with Atletico Madrid, Felix continued:
"I had been looking for a change of scenery for a while, because it was difficult to get used to the way we played. I left because I had had enough of trying and not succeeding. I had to leave in January and I think it's been good for Atletico and for me.
"We don’t know if my time there is over or not. We’ll only know that come the summer. But I don’t regret signing for Atletico.
Big picture for Felix
Felix had an eventful start to life at Chelsea, shining for an hour in his derby against Fulham before a needless red card earned him a three-game suspension from which he is finally set to return on Saturday against West Ham.
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Despite Felix's admission, any permanent move to Chelsea in the summer would be really expensive to pull off, given his age and ability. However, for that to even be a possibility, he has a few months to prove to Chelsea that he will be worth a huge outlay in the summer.
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