CHELSEA have “verbally agreed” to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid for the rest of the season, according to reports.
The Blues are ready to pay the £10million loan fee that Atletico Madrid are demanding for the forward.
Graham Potter’s side are also happy to cover the Portuguese star’s entire salary for the remainder of the season.
Felix, 23, went into the January transfer window desperate to leave Atletico, having fallen out with boss Diego Simeone.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea have won the race for his signature.
They claim that Felix has snubbed interest from Manchester United and Arsenal after being “attracted by Chelsea’s project”.
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The Daily Record add that he has already told pals he is moving to England.
It’s claimed that Chelsea want to include an option to buy in the loan deal.
But Atletico may have been waiting to see if they received a better offer.
The Red Devils were reportedly told to stump up £70.5m at the end of the season for Felix, in addition to an initial £9.5m loan fee.
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Arsenal, meanwhile, have been exploring options up top after the injury suffered by Gabriel Jesus.
Felix is set to follow former Molde striker David Datro Fofana in joining Chelsea this month.
And it’s claimed that the Blues could look to add another attacking player before the end of the window.
Both Chelsea and the Gunners have been linked with Shakhtar Donetsk star Mykhailo Mudryk.
But neither have so far been willing to stump up the £85m offer that the Ukrainian side have been demanding.
The Blues have scored just 12 goals in 11 Prem matches since Potter took the helm.
They have struggled to create quality chances, with their xG, shots on target and shots attempted numbers all among the worst in the Premier League over Potter’s 11 matches to date.
Chelsea have already spent around £300m on transfers since Todd Boehly bought the club last year.
In addition to Fofana and Felix, they also recruited Benoit Badiashile from Monaco earlier this month for £35m.
After yesterday’s 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, Potter vowed that his team need to “stick together”.
He said: “You can make excuses and look for reasons or say it isn’t good enough. Both of those answers are correct.
“We have to keep improving and stick together because clearly we are suffering as a football club and it’s not nice at all.”
“You understand the supporters’ frustration, we respect that.
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“There are always other opinions and negativity and criticism because the results haven’t been positive.
“That’s part of the job and part of the challenge.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
