GdS: Intriguing gamble to obvious return – why Joao Felix’s loan from Chelsea is not working

SempreMilan

·5 March 2025

GdS: Intriguing gamble to obvious return – why Joao Felix’s loan from Chelsea is not working

Joao Felix arrived at AC Milan with a return ticket in his pocket, and after just a few games that is beginning to look like quite a relief.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes, if you were to sign and drop Felix into a functional team he could be a real asset with his flair and creativity. In the context of the black hole that Milan have been sucked into, however, he simply does not have the tools to make the difference.

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The forward landed at Milanello a month ago back on February 4, and everything is different from how it seemed it could be. The goal on debut against Roma with the audacious chip over the goalkeeper gave the illusion that Felix was everything Milan have been looking for.

In reality, it would be unfair to put more responsibility on his shoulders than is legitimate, since Joao found himself in an environment consumed by all kinds of problems. At the same time, however, it is normal to expect a greater contribution from the players with his talent and experience.

A strange arrival

It is essential to immediately dispel the misunderstanding: Joao Felix cannot be classified as a flop, for the simple reason that he did not arrive at Milan as a champion, but rather as a player looking for the best stage to be able to find himself and recover his enormous potential.

On the other hand, if Felix were a phenomenon, he would have been on the pitch more than on the bench at Chelsea and they would not have let him go halfway through the season. In short, it was necessary to prepare the right situation for him to turn him on, but this did not happen.

The problem is that we are not talking about inconsistency, but of an eclipse that has lasted six games. The fireworks against Roma in the Coppa Italia were followed by a decent performance against Empoli, and then a series of inadequate displayers.

Then came his exclusion from the line-up against Lazio after six consecutive starts. Sergio Conceiçao decided to put him on after only 37 minutes of the match in place of Yunus Musah, who had messed up a lot up until then. The message was clear: work rate out, technique in.

The problem is that Felix had only one real flash, in the second half when he turned very well in the area and shot powerfully over the crossbar. Nothing else remained and now there are reflections underway.

Poto by AC Milan

The dilemma

Joao is one of the Rossoneri’s problems because for Conceiçao he is absolutely central in the choices, but the contribution is not proportional to the trust place in him by his compatriot.

Also, as many fans point out, the use of the No.79 as the central attacking midfielder forces Tijjani Reijnders to move deeper into the midfield double pivot. As he has admitted, this isn’t his best role.

Joao arrived at the end of the winter window as a sort of extra gift for the coach. In January, in fact, all the club’s attention was focused on the centre-forward. When the Santiago Gimenez operation came to fruition, they turned to Chelsea for the ex-Benfica man.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Geoffrey Moncada and Giorgio Furlani saw it as an ‘intriguing gamble’ to be carried out, but it is not working. Joao’s plane ticket from London to Milan will not be a one-way ticket.