The Ball – Joao Felix is ​​already in London (Atletico Madrid)

Joao Felix will leave Madrid for London and contract with Chelsea until the end of this season. The player arrived in the English capital yesterday, where a six-month loan deal awaits him. The agreement includes the payment of 11 million euros to Atlético de Madrid, an amount that includes the payment of the player’s salary, between 5 and 6 million euros net / year.

The negotiations began on Sunday unofficially and intensified yesterday in a more formal manner. The agreement between the Blues and the Portuguese international has been closed, as evidenced by the fact that the Portuguese has traveled, and everything leads to the belief that negotiations between the clubs are over as well.

Marca last night reinforced that Atl. Madrid demanded that Felix renew for another season, i.e. until 2027, not just to lock him up from a contractual point of view, but mainly to mitigate payments over time for the deal made in 2019 when Atlético Madrid bought the player’s pass to Benfica – resorting to a loan from A financial entity, whose costs have increased by six million euros, an investment that would be 120 million euros, which is the value of the termination clause that appeared in the contract of the young striker.

Conflict with Simeone
Such was the fulfillment of Joao Félix’s wish, who although he never publicly posited his desire to leave, did so through the right channels, that the club’s football advisor, Miguel Angel Marín, stated last month that the footballer’s aspirations are in line. “I think he will leave, although I would like him to continue, but this is not his idea,” the manager said in an interview with TVE, during the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Recruited after an impressive six months at Benfica under Bruno Lage, Felix’s career at Atlético de Madrid was built on vacillations, starting with stunning performances and details available only to very elite players with unimportant games and, even worse, with an absolute starting position.

The relationship with Diego Simeone deteriorated over time and the fact that the nature of both of them lies at opposite poles (the player who demands a more attacking football team and the coach does not give up defensive logic) resulted in Félix’s quick request – to leave the team.

The Portuguese international added, in three and a half seasons with Atletico Madrid, 131 matches, with a total of 34 goals and 16 assists, after he was crowned Spanish champion in the 2020/2021 season, with an amazing first half of the season. But the second half is very conservative. It was the contradiction, evident between Simeone’s lines, that drew the 23-year-old Portuguese striker.