Chelsea should not touch Joao Felix with a 20-foot pole

Chelsea has had Felix, in the 2022/23 season, and the results weren't pretty. The Portugal international has shown how ineffective he is, and why having him in the team will only just take up wages and not add any value to the side. 

The former SL Benfica star has enjoyed opportunities to strut his stuff in several different teams and team profiles, yet has failed to impress in any real sense, with many fans always making excuses on why he could not possibly have been expected to produce in those circumstances.

Felix has worn the shirt of several prestigious clubs since leaving Benfica, and going through all of them would show that while Felix can be good for some goals, he is almost entirely useless when it comes to chance creation, which is an issue, considering that he's supposed to be an attacking midfielder. 

Atletico Madrid

In Felix's first three seasons at Atletico, he managed six, seven and eight goals consecutively, which is good for a non-regular starter, but he also provided one, five, and four assists in those seasons. A look at his chance creation reveals some issues though. 

Felix created 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 chances per game respectively, and that's not just down to him not being a regular starter either, because on a per 90 basis, those figures were only good enough for 0.8, 1.2 and 1.4 key passes. These are appalling for someone who is supposed to be a talented attacking midfielder.

Even at Benfica, he managed 1.1 key passes per game and 1.5 per90.

He also only managed 20 big chances in his first three years at Atletico, five in 19/20, eight in 20/21, and seven in 21/22.

Chelsea 

At Chelsea, Felix started well, then went downhill from there. His first game had everything, including an assist, a big chance...and a red card. 

Felix seemed to be a worthwhile investment on his debut against Fulham under Graham Potter, but he never created another big chance for Chelsea in the league. 

Felix also recorded an abysmal 0.4 key passes per game, rising to 0.7 per90.

FC Barcelona 

Many fans defended Felix's poor creation and general attacking numbers, saying it was unreasonable for critics to expect the 24-year-old to thrive in harsh conditions like Atletico and Chelsea.

The argument was that Atletico's style of play was so negative as to stifle the "creative flow" of a gem such as Felix. 

For Chelsea, the argument was that the team was in so much disarray that none of the players could be evaluated properly. 

These excuses do the Atletico Madrid forward a disservice, because saying that an exceptional player cannot thrive because the circumstances aren't perfect, is to say that said player is,  in fact, not exceptional at all. 

This fact was exposed when he was loaned to Barcelona for the 2023/24 campaign. As Barca is an ideal team for creative and attacking talent to showcase themselves. 

Felix, to his credit, scored seven goals and provided three assists in 30 games. However, he recorded poor chance creation numbers. Again. 

The Portugal forward created just 0.6 chances per game (1.1 per90), only managing six big chances. 

Chelsea going back in for Felix suggests the club owners and Sporting Directors have learnt nothing from the failures of the last two years. 

Reports say that the board wanted to keep Felix but didn't, because Mauricio Pochettino didn't want him. This suggests that Enzo Maresca may not even be interested in the player, and if he isn't - and the club is still pursuing him - the club is well and truly headed for a cliff. Fast. 

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