Now into their third season as Chelsea’s house owners, the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital partnership have lengthy since misplaced their capability to shock with their switch market manoeuvrings.
However confirming a deal value as much as £46.3m to convey Joao Felix again to Stamford Bridge – lower than two years after his underwhelming mortgage spell on the membership – has managed to lift a couple of eyebrows.
Felix turns into Chelsea’s tenth signing of the summer season – and their forty third because the Boehly-Clearlake takeover.
The 24-year-old’s arrival comes simply hours after the £36m departure of Conor Gallagher to Atletico, whose transfer initially stalled after the collapse of Samu Omorodion’s swap from Madrid to Chelsea.
Factoring within the Felix and Gallagher offers, Chelsea could have accrued an estimated internet spend of over £800m beneath their present house owners – nearly double the whole of every other Premier League facet over the identical interval.
Jamie Carragher has brazenly questioned Chelsea’s resolution to re-sign Felix and requested how Chelsea plan to accommodate one other attacking participant of their already bloated squad.
The deal needs to be positioned into the context of the Blues’ want to promote Gallagher. The midfielder turned down the provide of a brand new two-year deal in west London and would have been capable of stroll away without spending a dime subsequent summer season.
Promoting Gallagher now allowed Chelsea to lift £36m on a participant they developed by their academy. This may instantly be added to their accounts as ‘pure revenue’ – a beneficial increase within the period of Profitability and Sustainability Guidelines.
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That Atletico wanted to promote a participant in an effort to afford Gallagher – and that the funds are coming from Chelsea by their buy of Felix – speaks to the complexities of the monetary guidelines.
Assuming all the add-ons within the deal for Felix – who is ready to signal a six-year deal – are triggered, Chelsea will be capable of unfold the £46.3m value of his signing throughout the utmost five-year interval.
Meaning Felix will probably be listed as an annual value of round £9m on Chelsea’s accounts. Distinction that to elevating £36m for Gallagher and the offers will lead to a £27m revenue for the membership this 12 months.
But when Felix’s signing is smart for Chelsea’s accountants, the logic is more durable to pin down for Enzo Maresca as he spends the primary months of his reign trying to type a cohesive crew from the large variety of gamers at his disposal.
Felix will probably be competing for a spot as an attacking midfielder or ahead with Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez, Christopher Nkunku, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Noni Madueke, Nicolas Jackson and Pedro Neto, whereas Omari Kellyman and Marc Guiu are on the fringes.
Raheem Sterling, Romelu Lukaku, Armando Broja, Carney Chukwuemeka, Cesare Casadei, Angelo Gabriel, Deivid Washington and David Fofana additionally all stay on Chelsea’s books.
Chelsea will argue lots of these gamers will go away earlier than the switch window closes on August 30. However discovering new golf equipment for gamers handed prolonged contracts is simpler stated than finished.
Felix has spent the vast majority of his profession taking part in behind a striker or on the left wing – together with throughout his 20-game stint at Chelsea within the 2022/23 season – however Nkunku and Neto particularly could also be uncomfortable with that concept.
“They’re buying Felix – where’s he going to play?” requested Carragher. “They signed Neto a week ago – where’s he going to play when you’ve got Palmer already?
“The place would you play Fernandez, a £100m participant? The place would you play Nkunku?”
The Portugal international’s time in west London was largely forgettable, contributing four goals and zero assists before being sent on loan to Barcelona for the following campaign.
However when taking a look at Felix’s stats per 90 minutes with Chelsea, his performances seem in a extra constructive mild, rating first amongst his team-mates for objectives scored and second for profitable take-ons.
Felix additionally had the misfortune of becoming a member of Chelsea at their lowest ebb, successful simply 4 of the matches through which he performed as Graham Potter and Frank Lampard toiled within the dugout.
Curiously, a way of Felix having underperformed regardless of producing an affordable output is a sample repeated at Atletico. Regardless of being surplus to necessities beneath Diego Simeone for the previous few seasons, solely two gamers – Alvaro Morata and Luis Suarez – have scored extra objectives per 90 minutes for the membership since he signed in 2019.
Felix was additionally an everyday beneath Xavi at Barcelona final season, producing 10 objectives and 6 assists in 44 video games, however a everlasting transfer did not materialise.
Maybe Felix is a sufferer of one thing over which he had no management – the exorbitant charge Atletico paid Benfica for his companies in 2019.
The LaLiga facet paid greater than £100m to signal the then-19-year-old after his breakout season in Portugal. Most gamers would battle to dwell as much as that price ticket.
One other criticism of Felix is that he’s a ‘luxurious participant’ – enjoyable to look at and with undoubted high quality, however not a confirmed matchwinner.
There’s proof to again up that suggestion. Felix ranked poorly for ball recoveries per 90 at Chelsea and Barcelona over the previous two seasons, whereas he did not contribute an help throughout his earlier stint within the Premier League.
Felix additionally has a dreadful report within the greatest matches, failing to attain in 9 finals or semi-finals at membership stage, and recording only one aim in seven matches at main tournaments for Portugal.
Like with so lots of Chelsea’s current signings, Felix is a chance. If Maresca can succeed the place Simeone, Potter and Lampard all – to some extent – failed and persistently extract the ahead’s undoubted potential, then £46.3m may appear to be cash nicely spent.
However Chelsea have additionally paid appreciable charges on quite a few different attacking gamers – they usually cannot all play. It is simply one other problem for Maresca to beat in what’s simply his second full season as a head coach.
