Diego Simeone’s fears of losing Joao Felix in the January transfer window are slowly becoming a reality after Atletico Madrid, and Chelsea reached an agreement on a loan offer for the Portuguese international on Monday.

The 23-year-old joined Atletico Madrid in one of the most expensive transfers in history as a 19-year-old from Benfica for £113m in 2019. However, the forward hasn’t impressed largely at the Wanda Metropolitan, but he hopes to rejuvenate his form at Stamford Bridge, where he will complete the rest of the season on loan.

Joao Felix has scored five goals and three assists in 20 games for the club, and the forward featured against Barcelona at the weekend in a 1-0 loss, while he was also on target in a 2-0 win over Elche.

He has been linked with a move away from Atletico Madrid with Arsenal, Chelsea, and some other European teams, which Simeone assessed weeks back.

“While he’s here, I’ll try to get the best out of Joao Felix for the club; then, we will see what’s going to happen,” Simeone said.

Meanwhile, Chelsea has agreed to pay €11m (£9.69m) loan fee for the player, and he will become the Blues’ fourth signing for the January transfer window.

The Blues have already added the signings Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, and Andrey Santos. They are currently sitting in tenth on the Premier League table and are ten points from the UEFA Champions League places and ten points away from the relegation zone.

Chelsea has also been knocked out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, with the UEFA Champions League their only remaining chance at a trophy this season.

Graham Potter’s team will face Borussia Dortmund in the next round of the UEFA Champions League.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu