£46m Chelsea ‘impostor’ set for transfer move with club to take huge financial blow

Joao Felix is on the verge of joining Benfica from Chelsea in a deal worth just €25m (£21.7m), according to reports in Portugal.

The Blues are set for a significant financial blow over the 25-year-old, given they paid £46m to sign him on a permanent deal less than 12 months ago.

Felix, previously dubbed an ‘impostor’ by football pundit Roy Keane, has struggled since joining Chelsea on a seven-year deal in August 2024.

The Portugal international was sent out on loan to AC Milan for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign, where Italian press branded him a ‘disaster’.

Felix has played 40 games for Chelsea – including his loan spell before they bought him from Atletico Madrid – producing 11 goals and two assists.

According to Portuguese outlet Record, Felix is now ‘very close’ to making a return to Benfica, the club where he started his senior career.

The deal is expected to be finalised by tomorrow (Friday, July 25) with the player keen on a second stint with Benfica.

It’s believed that Felix could potentially play in Benfica’s pre-season friendly clash against Fenerbahçe on Saturday.

The dramatic fall of Joao Felix

Felix was once viewed as one of the most exciting talents in the world – with Atletico paying an astronomical fee of £113m to sign him in 2019.

But the versatile attacker – who can be deployed as a second striker, centre-forward or winger – has very much failed to live up the hype.

‘He has still not found his place,’ former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly told Milan Presse earlier this year.

‘He’s been at Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, now Milan, without making any real impact.

‘At this moment of his career, he needs a club with a clear philosophy that can build [a] project around him, put him at ease to express his potential that we still haven’t really seen.

‘What Joao Felix lacks is not technique, but character. He is not a leader.’

According to Record, Benfica president Rui Costa has already reserved the No.10 shirt for Felix.

The No.10 shirt is considered to be special at Benfica, with Costa donning it himself during his time as a player for the club.

It was also worn by the late Eusebio, regarded as one of football’s greatest ever players.