Todd Boehly has shown already in his short time as co-owner of Chelsea that he is willing to wave his chequebook around for signings. The American billionaire has also shown no signs of slowing down with some sources suggesting that Chelsea could be in for a similar level of spending this summer seen in the last two windows, just with more sales this time around.

One big question looming as we start to approach the end of the season and therefore the start of the transfer window is whether Chelsea should make the Joao Felix loan deal permanent.

At a fee being quoted at around £80 million pounds, some people are questioning whether Felix is worth spending another significant transfer fee to bring him to the club permanently. Let’s take a look at a few positives and negatives of spending such an amount and then deliver a final verdict.

Let’s begin with the negatives, the most obvious being the £80 million price tag Chelsea would have to pay to make this deal happen. With the previous outlay over the last two transfer windows, Chelsea will want to be clever with the incomings they make this summer to complete this “rebuild” of the squad.

Can £80 million be justified on ANOTHER creative forward who likes to play in the number ten area of the pitch when Chelsea have already acquired Christopher Nkunku who is joining in the summer from RB Leipzig, and Kai Havertz who is known to prefer occupying the number ten position rather than playing up front. We also can’t forget to mention the highly discussed Mason Mount and if he is to stay and resolve his contract talks, he would also be a candidate to play in the number ten position.

Joao Felix has scored two goals for Chelsea in his nine appearances for the club with both of those goals coming in the Premier League for the Portugal international. Chelsea are struggling for goals this season, they have only netted 29 goals in 27 games in the Premier League, and are sure to be looking for a recognised out-and-out striker in the summer window to resolve the goal-scoring issue.

Many people have referred to the fact that whilst Felix has a lot of ability, he will not resolve the issue of scoring goals as he is not a proven clinical finisher over his career. In 96 appearances for Atletico Madrid, he has managed only 25 goals, and only has 4 goals in his 28 appearances for Portugal. The question would be can Chelsea justify paying £80 million for another creative attacker who does not directly fix the goal-scoring issue by adding goals himself?

Now onto the positives, Firstly the quality that Joao Felix possesses is elite tier. When you watch him play football and judge him on the eye test his class is undeniable. You can see the spark of life he brings to the game almost in the same light that Chelsea were used to seeing from Eden Hazard in his time at the club. The ability to float around and pick up the ball in attacking areas and use his close control and dribbling to wriggle in and out of tight spaces and play intricate passes into attacking areas to benefit the other forwards is breathtaking at times and the sign of an extremely smart young player.

Felix has also settled in extremely fast at Chelsea and has said on multiple occasions how happy he is at the club and this has shown in his attitude and performances. He has struck up some nice relationships on and off the field and has seemingly brought the best out of Kai Havertz thus far as they have built a nice relationship on the pitch.

Finally, some of the stats Joao Felix is posting at Chelsea since joining show the creative impetus he has injected into this Chelsea side. Joao Felix is making 3.97 progressive passes per 90 and 3.13 progressive carries per 90 which are in the top 91% and top 94% of all forwards in world football. Felix is also making 3.69 shot-creating actions per 90 and has an xG+xAG (expected goals and expected assisted goals) of 0.57 per 90 which is Chelsea’s highest in the squad.

So, do you think Chelsea should pay the quoted £80 million to make Joao Felix a permanent at SW6? I personally believe Chelsea should make this deal happen and look to build a team around Felix and Enzo Fernadez as the creative hub. I do see the opposing sides of the coin as mentioned with a similar profile in Christopher Nkunku joining the club in the summer however I think Felix has shown enough of his quality to mean Chelsea should be trying to sign him on a permanent transfer.

By Connor Holden