£45m Chelsea player’s former manager says he needs to have a hard look at himself

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Chelsea spent a lot of money on new attackers during the summer, bringing in Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix and Pedro Neto.

Jadon Sancho has already been an influential figure for Chelsea, registering three assists in their last three Premier League games.

Joao Felix and Pedro Neto, though, are yet to establish themselves in Enzo Maresca‘s first team.

The former has not even started a game in the top flight yet. Felix has already been warned by Yannick Carrasco that his talent alone will not lead to success.

• READ MORE: Joao Felix says £12m Chelsea ace works harder than any other player

Rui Vitoria discusses Joao Felix’s struggles

Rui Vitoria managed Felix at Benfica, who sold the forward to Atletico Madrid back in 2019.

However, it never quite worked out for Felix at Atletico, and Vitoria has now discussed the 24-year-old’s difficult spell in the Spanish capital.

Having not been a huge success at Barcelona or Chelsea during his first stint in west London either, Vitoria says it is now time for Felix to look at himself.

“It’s difficult to know [what went wrong] because I don’t know what happened within the team,” the former Benfica manager told Marca in an interview. “I think that perhaps because of the culture of the club, Atletico is a team that runs, works hard and plays low and that distance from the rival area could be one of its problems.

“But I don’t know what happened to the player and his life, nor do I know what would have happened if he had had another coach. All professionals have to reflect on their capacity and their position; it cannot always be the problem of others either.

“I don’t have complete knowledge, at Barcelona and Chelsea he had more favourable contexts for the player’s characteristics, so there must be things that we don’t know.”

While Felix still needs to win over Maresca, that is not the case for Moises Caicedo. Felix has claimed that Maresca absolutely adores Caicedo.

Joao Felix’s struggles could continue at Chelsea

Felix is going to find it tricky to make an impact at Stamford Bridge this season. The Portuguese is currently playing second fiddle to Cole Palmer, who is in undroppable form at the moment.

Palmer scored four goals against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, helping Chelsea to climb to fourth in the Premier League table.

The 22-year-old, who spent most of last season out on the right, looks at home in the No.10 position. Felix would love to play there, but his opportunities are going to be limited because of his teammate.

Chelsea paid Atletico £45m for the Portugal international’s signature. For some, that will not be money well spent for as long as Felix remains on the bench, but it is a long season. There is still plenty of time for him to show his worth.