Following the breakdown of their deal to recruit Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid, Joao Felix may surprise everyone by returning to Chelsea.
For weeks now, Omorodion has appeared destined to join Stamford Bridge after the two teams reached an agreement on a £34.5 million transfer.
Furthermore, Conor Gallagher, who many supporters wanted to stay at his childhood club, would leave west London for Madrid for a similar price.
However, everything appeared to be falling apart when news broke late on Sunday night that Omorodion’s contract was cancelled, citing problems with the teenage striker’s agreement, according to The Athletic.
As a result, Atletico’s deals for Gallagher and Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez are now in jeopardy and could both collapse.
The La Liga giants are set to pay £81m for Argentina superstar Alvarez who is leaving the Etihad after just two seasons to secure more regular game time as a starting centre-forward.
But Atletico need to sell in order to secure both transfers and Chelsea can’t afford for the Gallagher deal to collapse so both clubs are working on a solution with the start of the new Premier League season just days away.
To that end, it is reported that Felix is being discussed by the two parties and the player’s agent Jorge Mendes which could see the forward return to the Blues after an ill-fated loan spell there.
The Portugal star joined Chelsea for six months during the second-half of the 2022/23 season when they were managed by Graham Potter, but it didn’t go to plan.
He was sent off on his debut and would end up scoring just four goals in 20 appearances, with his option to buy not taken up.
It’s been clear this summer that the 24-year-old is not in Atletico’s plans but moving him on has been problematic, partly because of his wages, reported to be around £99,000-a-week.
To this day, Felix remains one of the most expensive footballers in history, with the €127.2m (£108.8m) Atletico paid Benfica for him ranking him fifth on the all-time list.