Chelsea transfer news: 'Meeting held' over £21.6m deal for attacking outcast

The agent of Chelsea attacker Joao Felix has supposedly met with the Portuguese's former club Benfica to discuss a permanent move away for his client.

The 25-year-old will soon be due back at Stamford Bridge following an underwhelming loan spell with AC Milan, where he only produced three goals and one assist from 21 appearances across all competitions.

Felix had struggled to cut the mustard at Stamford Bridge before heading to San Siro, and his chances of a revival are slim owing to the recent arrivals of Liam Delap and Joao Pedro.

Ahead of an expected summer exit, Felix has already talked up a possible return to Benfica, whom he left for a staggering £109.9m for Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019.

Now, A Bola reports that Felix's agent Jorge Mendes has been discussing a reunion in person with Benfica chiefs, although a proposed deal is currently viewed as "difficult but possible".

Benfica 'willing to offer £21.6m' for Felix deal

The outlet adds that there was no 'white smoke' during the face-to-face conversations, and a potential bid of €20m (£17.3m) is likely to be swiftly rejected by Chelsea.

Benfica are apparently prepared to raise their offer to €25m (£21.6m), although that would still only amount to half of what Chelsea paid Atletico to take Felix off their hands in last year's summer window.

The onus is now on Mendes to convince Chelsea's owners to accept a £21.6m package for Felix, whose contract with the West London giants does not expire for another six seasons.

However, the Blues are reportedly determined to secure a permanent sale in the summer window and may therefore be open to accepting a sizeable loss, as they have no intention of agreeing a loan-to-buy proposal.

Across two separate spells at Chelsea, Felix has only managed a meagre 11 goals and two assists in 40 matches across all competitions, including just one goal in 12 Premier League games last term.

Owing to his loan agreement with Milan, the Portugal international was ineligible to take part in Chelsea's Club World Cup campaign and will watch from afar when the Blues take on Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's final.

Chelsea face another potential roadblock in Felix deal

Finding an agreement with Chelsea over a transfer fee should just be one half of the battle for Benfica, who will also have to convince Felix to lower his salary if a reunion is to materialise.

According to football salaries website Capology, the Portugal international takes home £6.8m per year at Stamford Bridge, whereas Benfica wages are capped at just over £3.5m per season.

Felix would therefore have to accept a near-50% pay cut to return to the Estadio da Luz this summer, while Chelsea will coincidentally have to agree to a 50% transfer loss if Benfica refuse to increase their £21.6m offer.

However, the report adds that Benfica will cross the salary bridge when they come to it, as the first priority is getting the green light from the Conference League winners themselves.

Written by
Ben Knapton