Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca wants to revise his team this summer and the club has made some early progress in the transfer window, with Benfica in conversations to re-sign Joao Felix
Chelsea reportedly introduced negotiations on the sale of Flop attacker Joao Felix, only a few months after he had shot £ 45 million to sign him. In recent months, Felix has spent on loan with AC Milan and is planned for one of the potential 14 players who say goodbye to the blues in the summer transfer window.
The 25-year-old attacker has fallen his reputation during the 2024/25 season, with his image as one of Europe's most exciting young players who quickly fade. Chelsea signed him in a seven -year contract in August 2024 after he previously spent the second half of the 2022/23 season in Stamford Bridge.
He struggled to impress Enzo Maresca and started only three Premier League matches before he was shipped to Milan in January. His third loan spell in two years did not succeed in breathing new life into his career, with Milan just as not impressed as Chelsea – but it seems that an exit could still be agreed.
Felix first emerged as a talent at Benfica, and the Portuguese club believes that they could persuade him to his best. Record reports that Benfica in advanced conversations with Chelsea is about a permanent transfer, with manager Bruno Lage and Club President Rui Costa both on board with the plan.
Things can move quickly, with Chelsea who want to sell their flop and Benfica hopes to wrap things up on time for Felix to appear for them at the Club World Cup. The tournament starts on June 15 in the United States, with Benfica's first game a day later against Boca Juniors.
Felix has one thing by his side: his agent Jorge Mendes, who has a history of securing grand movements for his client, despite his overwhelming versions. Mendes negotiated in 2019 with his £ 113 million from Benfica to Atletico Madrid, as well as his move to Stamford Bridge last summer.
Maresca wants to reform his bloated team this summer, after he inherited a mix of players last year. Felix is just one of a large number of players who are planned for departure, with colleague attackers Noni Madueke, Christopher Nunku and Raheem Sterling all for sale.
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Chelsea also wants to revise their goalkeeper department, with Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic who may leave. Defenders Renato Veiga, Ben Chilwell, Axel Disasi, Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah are all also considered excess for requirements, just like midfielders Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Carney Chukwuemeka and Lesley Ugochukwu.
The blues did not waste time to roll the ball of incoming deals, whereby the arrival of midfielder Dario Essugo from Sporting Lisbon was announced in a transfer that is assumed to be worth around £ 18 million. The deal for the 20-year-old Sporting Academy was agreed in March and has now completed the club World Cup, in which Chelsea will also participate.