Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have reached an agreement for the loan of Portuguese forward Joao Felix until the end of the season, as per Relevo.
Felix, 23 will leave Madrid for Chelsea immediately, and extends his contract with Atletico Madrid by a year until 2027. For the duration of the loan, six months, Chelsea will pay €11.5m as well as covering the his salary. There is no buyout clause in the deal and including the costs of his wages, it will even out as over €15m for the Blues.
The forward had requested to leave Atleti due to the poor relations with Diego Simeone, with the two struggling to get the best out of each other. One of the conditions for the move was that Felix would extend his deal, as this would allow them to amortise his transfer more easily. It spreads the cost for their accounts out over an extra year, in turn allowing them more cash in the short-term.
Whether Los Colchoneros hang onto Felix at the end of the deal remains to be seen. It is thought that a good offer would be accepted by the club. However if reports that manager Diego Simeone is to leave the club in the summer ring true, then it would clear the way for Felix to be made the star of the team. It may be that Felix has decided his time at Atletico is up, regardless of whether Simeone stays.
