Joao Felix has spoken of his love for Chelsea amid the reports that he doesn’t want a return to La Liga side Atletico Madrid.
The Portuguese star was speaking to the club’s media with only two games left of his half-season loan at the London club.
Felix joined in the January window on a short-term deal reportedly worth as much as £11m in fees and wages, and he then got off to the worst possible start with a red card on his debut.
He has since shown glimpses of his class, but only managed three goals in 14 matches, which likely isn’t enough for Chelsea to want to buy a player who has a €100m [£87m] asking price.
Felix has made his feelings clear, though, with footage showing him saying: “I don’t know yet my future but these four or five months I’ve loved it.
“It’s a top club, everyone in the club is very good to me, my teammates are unbelievable and I really like to be here.”
One thing that does seem to be clear is that Felix doesn’t want to return to Atletico Madrid, unless manager Diego Simeone leaves.
El Mundo Deportivo claim playing under Simeone is ‘not negotiable’ with the duo falling out four seasons into his £112m move from Benfica, which keeps him as the fourth most expensive player of all time.
That was despite the player only having little more than half a season of senior football under his belt, showing just how big an asset to Atletico Madrid he is.
But with no one interested in paying anywhere near his £87m asking price, another loan to Chelsea appears to be the more likely, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Spanish outlet also claims that incoming Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino will have the final say on Felix, who has fallen out of favour under Lampard.
