Insider explains why “something pretty special” would be needed to make loan into permanent deal | OneFootball

Joao Felix is being strongly linked with a move to AC Milan at the moment, and transfer insider Ben Jacobs has just been on the London Is Blue podcast to explain how difficult it might actually be to get a deal done, especially a permanent one:

“The thing about [a new team] buying Felix is that Chelsea basically make a book loss unless someone offers something pretty special,” the insider warned.

“It may be more preferable if Chelsea find a solution for Felix to loan him, take a healthy loan fee, a bit like they themselves paid when they had Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, get someone to cover the wage, get him playing, raise his value, and then hope that that suitor or another comes for him in the summer because he’s had a good second half of the season once the window shuts. Whereas buying, you’ve got to add and mark up significantly in order to not make a book loss.”

So the silly £45m+ fee we paid for him in the summer, which we all said was crazy, is already coming back to haunt us.

Admin difficulties add to complexity of deal

Joao Felix in the tunnel at Anfield. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC)

When asked about how likely a deal actually was, Jacobs confirmed the real interest from the Italians in getting the attacker, but also pointed to the administrative difficulties that could kill the deal:

“With Milan there’s a real appetite there, and there was a meeting today between Jorge Mendes and Milan, but it requires a lot of moving around, because Milan have to sort out their loan situation. The other challenge they’ve got is that it might not be possible to work everyone into their Champions League squad. The last thing I think a player like Joao Felix would would be to arrive late in the window and find he’s not in the thinking for the Champions League.”

You can see Jacobs explaining the situation in the clip embedded here: