Chelsea really should have signed £82m World Cup winner instead of Joao Felix, they showed interest last summer

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Chelsea’s decision to bring Joao Felix back to Stamford Bridge is now starting to look like a huge mistake.

Despite having only signed him last summer, Chelsea have already loaned Joao Felix to AC Milan.

The forward’s second spell in west London now looks over, with it being claimed that Chelsea plan to offload Felix at the end of the season.

He was one big-name forward who arrived at Stamford Bridge in 2024, but it is now quite clear that Enzo Maresca would have been better off with someone like Julian Alvarez.

• READ MORE: Joao Felix drops big hint about Chelsea future as he explains AC Milan stance after January move

Chelsea were interested in Julian Alvarez

Alvarez joined Felix’s former club Atletico Madrid last summer, and he is enjoying his time there.

In 36 appearances this season, the 25-year-old has scored 17 goals. Six of them have come in the Champions League.

However, before his move from Manchester City to Atletico, it was reported that Chelsea were actually interested in signing Alvarez.

In the end, Alvarez joined Diego Simeone’s side, while Chelsea went on to sign Felix, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho to strengthen their attack. But Alvarez would have been a more logical signing than Felix, even at nearly double the price.

Julian Alvarez would have been a better signing than Joao Felix

Like Felix, Alvarez is someone who can play as a second striker. In total, he has made 28 appearances as one in his career.

However, Alvarez is more comfortable in the centre-forward position than Felix and has spent more time in the Premier League.

With Chelsea having been in the market for a new striker in the last summer transfer window, bringing in Alvarez would have made sense.

Atletico spent a lot of money on Alvarez — £82m to be precise — but Chelsea are a club who are happy to fork out £100m on midfielders. Obtaining a goalscorer, he could have been well worth the fee.

Of course, financial experts in football will argue that Felix’s purchase was necessary. It helped Atletico to raise enough funds to sign Conor Gallagher from Chelsea, which in turn resulted in the Blues making pure profit and staying in line with PSR.

But with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur having also been interested in the England midfielder, Chelsea could have easily sold to one of their Premier League rivals and not bought Felix.

Chelsea needed a striker like Alvarez more but did not do too much to bring the World Cup winner in, a decision they should be regretting.