Chelsea's Hopes of Offloading Joao Felix Dealt Blow by Club President | OneFootball

Benfica president Rui Costa shut down the possibility of signing João Félix from Chelsea this summer.

It is no secret Chelsea are looking to offload Félix. After a rather underwhelming 2023–24 season on loan at Barcelona, the Portugal international made the £45 million ($60.9 million) move to London and inked a seven-year deal with the Blues.

Félix marked his return to the Premier League with a goal in his first appearance, but failed to find much success in the ensuing months. After making just three league starts and scoring seven goals across all competitions, the 25-year-old joined AC Milan on loan during the winter transfer window, where he also failed to find a foothold in the team.

Once it became clear the Rossoneri had no plans of permanently signing Félix, Chelsea had hoped Benfica would be interested in taking the forward off their hands. Except Costa does not see a reality in which the club could welcome back their former player.

“Every year I get asked this question,” Costa said. “If we could bring back players from our academy, who have the quality and prominence that a player like Joao has, we would all like that, all Benfica fans would like that.

“We have to understand two things. The players are not free, they have very high contracts with the clubs and very high transfer fees. The amounts involved, both in transfers and salaries, are very high and we have to respect that part.”

Benfica seemed like the perfect destination for Félix; the 25-year-old came up through the club's academy and made 42 appearances for the first team before signing with Atlético Madrid in 2019. Yet the Portuguese outfit seemingly does not have the finances to enter into negotiations with Chelsea.

“Benfica wants all the great players. Joao is an excellent player,” Costa said. “It is a long way from there until we bring Joao back, I can’t say much more than that. There is no way I can come close to thinking that it is possible.”

Félix's future remains uncertain. Despite being under contract with Chelsea, he was not included in Enzo Maresca's FIFA Club World Cup squad and his number 14 shirt was handed to new signing Dário Essugo.