Chelsea have sealed the loan signing of La Liga superstar Joao Felix who joins the Stamford blues for the rest of the season after having signed an extension with his parent club Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal and Manchester United were also heavily linked with the Portugal international, who seems to have fallen out with manager Diego Simeone and it seemed clear for a while his desire to leave Atletico Madrid this month. Despite the current situation, he did start for Atletico in the 1-0 defeat to Barcelona on Sunday in a La Liga fixture, which incidentally was his final appearance for the Colchoneros at least for this season.
Chelsea boss Graham Potter is a man under pressure after picking up just one win in seven games across all competitions, with his team recently suffering a chastening 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup third round. Potter is desperately in need of attacking reinforcements to pump some life into his team’s toothless attack that has scored only 20 goals in 17 league games.
Joao Felix to Chelsea—How will the Blues line up with him?
Goalkeeper
Kepa Arrizabalaga has usurped Edouard Mendy as Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper under Graham Potter and looks set to keep his place given the latter’s injury troubles.
Defence
Thiago Silva will lead the team and play at the heart of the defence, with Kalidou Koulibaly, regardless of being poor in his debut season in English football, starting alongside him in the Chelsea lineup. With Reece James and Ben Chilwell out injured, Cesar Azpilicueta and Marc Cucurella should continue operating at right-back and left-back respectively in the Chelsea lineup.
Midfield
Denis Zakaria has been one of the rare bright spots after the resumption of the Premier League, and the Switzerland international should hold Chelsea’s midfield. With N’Golo Kante out injured and Jorginho not at his best this season, Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount should join Zakaria in the engine room in the Chelsea lineup.
Graham Potter will have the option to bring on Conor Gallagher and Carney Chukwuemeka from the bench.
Attack
Chelsea are struggling not only to score goals but also to create chances, which should be a big worry for Graham Potter. On top of that, the Blues have lost Raheem Sterling, Christian Pulisic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to injuries recently, leaving Potter with limited options up front.
Thus, Potter would hope the signing of Joao Felix brings some spark to Chelsea’s attack. Felix can play anywhere across the front three or in the hole behind the striker, and it would be all up to Potter how he manages to get the best out of the talented Portuguese.
The Chelsea tactician could go with Felix on the left in the Chelsea lineup, with Hakim Ziyech operating from the other flank. As Sterling and Aubameyang are injured, and new signing David Datro Fofana not yet ready to start games, Kai Havertz remains the favourite to operate as a false 9 for the Pensioners.
