João Félix is ‘very close’ to Chelsea, according to reports from the Spanish media on Monday.
Surprising claims from Marca say the Blues suddenly lead the race for the Atletico Madrid star.
It’s said that the battle looked like a ‘one-on-one’ tussle between Arsenal and Manchester United to sign the 23-year-old, and Chelsea now positioned themselves ‘to be close to winning’ the competition.
According to Marca, the bad form lived by the Blues is what convinced them to ‘bet heavily’ on the player.
So even though they seemed to be out of the race for that signing, they are now trying to reinforce the squad to ‘change the negative dynamics’ they’ve been experiencing.
Confirming previous claims from the British media, the Spanish outlet says this would be a loan with no option to buy.
Atletico Madrid had no offers to sell Felix now, and as they loan him to the Blues, they shall wait until the summer to see if they receive any bids for a permanent departure.
Marca claims Felix’s exit from the club is ‘closer than ever’, as the move could happen ‘in the next few days’.
Meanwhile in Portugal, Record claims that Atletico Madrid and Chelsea are indeed negotiating a €11m loan. It’s said Arsenal and Manchester United had also been in talks with the La Liga side for the transfer, but did not reach that requested price.
Felix joined Atletico from Benfica back in 2019 for a staggering £113 million, and has since made more than 130 appearances for the Spanish side.
In that time, he has scored 34 goals and provided 18 assists, but his time with the club looks to be coming to an end.
Todd Boehly stands down from key Chelsea role
Todd Boehly has stood down from his sporting director role but will continue as Chelsea chairman.
Boehly took on a sporting director role after joining Chelsea. The American businessman began a mass overhaul of the backroom staff and took control of footballing matters himself.
Now, Boehly has brought in a host of staff members to run the football side of Chelsea, meaning he’s now able to take a step back.
This has been confirmed by the Telegraph, who have claimed that Boehyl has stepped down from his sporting director role after hiring a new recruitment team, who will now take control of transfers.
Boehly will now just be the Chelsea chairman, meaning highly-qualified and experienced football ‘people’ will be in charge of key decisions at the club.
The likes of Christopher Vivell and Paul Winstanley were pictured alongside new signing Benoit Badiashile, so you’d imagine both were heavily involved in bringing the youth French defender to Stamford Bridge.
The report also confirms that Boehly will continue to back Potter and doesn’t plan on sacking him.
SOURCE: sportwitness.co.uk, caughtoffside.com
