Joao Felix sale paves the way for £61m Chelsea transfer | OneFootball

Joao Felix is set to bring his ill-fated spell at Chelsea to an end in the summer transfer window as Al-Nassr close in on a deal.

The Saudi Pro League outfit have beaten off competition from Benfica to potentially agree a reported £44 million transfer fee with the Blues.

Remarkably, the move will see Chelsea make a small profit on Felix, whom they bought from Atletico Madrid for £42m (provided the £4.3m in add-ons were not triggered) just last summer.

But it will also allow them to accelerate their pursuit of a major transfer target.

Joao Felix sale paves the way for £61m Chelsea transfer

Chelsea have already spent well over £200m on new signings, including attackers such as Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Jamie Gittens, but they are still in the market for more.

Xavi Simons has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge in the past week as as he seeks a way out of RB Leipzig.

The Netherlands international told the club in May that he wishes to leave after they failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, and he reportedly has his heart set on a move to the Premier League.

It’s been claimed that Leipzig want £61.2m for Simons, who only joined the club on a permanent basis from PSG in January. He had spent the prios season and a half there on loan.

Bayern Munich and Arsenal are said to be interested in acquiring the 22-year-old, but Chelsea appear to be leading the charge for his signature.

As Fabrizio Romano reported on Saturday, they are in “advanced talks” with Leipzig over a potential deal, with Carney Chukwuemeka possibly going in the other direction.

“There are contacts ongoing,” the transfer expert revealed on his YouTube channel. “The relationship between the clubs is also very good in this case. They already did the (Christopher) Nkunku deal together and more, so they have a very good relationship.

“They are having two separate discussions. One is for Carney Chukwuemeka, the other one is for Xavi Simons. But Chelsea and Leipzig are negotiating and also the negotiation between Chelsea and Xavi Simons on the contract is going quite well.

“I think they can agree every detail of personal terms very soon and I still expect Xavi Simons to have very good chances to join Chelsea in this summer transfer window.”

Simons did, however, start for Leipzig in their 7-0 pre-season friendly win over Toulouse on Saturday, suggesting a move is not exactly on the precipice just yet.

Read – Chelsea set price tag over £30m for in-demand midfielder

See Also – Premier League net spend rank over the last five years

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