Atletico Madrid have not received any approach from Chelsea regarding a possible permanent deal for Joao Felix but would want €100million for the versatile forward, according to Spanish reports.
Felix joined Chelsea on a short-term loan in January and there is reportedly no buy option in the agreement between the London club and Atletico.
This means in just over three months, the 23-year-old’s loan status at Stamford Bridge will expire, and he will return to his parent club.
If Chelsea were to sign Felix permanently, many would expect them to make their move early and to have started negotiating with Atletico already.
However, Marca claims that while the Blues are happy with what they have seen from the Portugal international, have yet to contact Atletico over a permanent deal.
In other words, they have yet to make a decision on whether they want to sign Felix.
This is despite Graham Potter’s admitting he is happy with the versatile forward and his quality.
Chelsea might have been hesitant to meet the €100m (£88m) price tag that Atletico reportedly set on their record signing, but the new ownership group have also proved that they are willing to spend big on top targets.
Marca adds that Felix’s performance in Chelsea’s upcoming Champions League matches could prove important to his future.
Felix himself has previously said that he felt comfortable playing in this Chelsea team, so convincing him to agree to a permanent move is unlikely to be a problem.
That said, Chelsea have reportedly secured a pre-agreement to sign Christopher Nkuku from RB Leipzig, and he shares a lot of similarities with Felix in terms of play style and preferred positions.
It makes sense if Chelsea plan to allocate their budget to their targets in other positions, including a possible new number nine.
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