On the evening of July 27, Al Nassr considered the completion of the deal to recruit Joao Felix from Chelsea with a total contract value of 30 million Euros. If the additional fees are calculated, the figure could be up to 50 million Euros.
Earlier last week, Chelsea opened the door for teams to meet Joao Felix to find a new destination for the Portuguese striker. At that time, information about many clubs in Saudi Arabia willing to spend money to buy Felix was on the rise. In the end, it is the truth. The teams in the Saudi Pro League are willing to spend money but have not been able to please Chelsea.
Joao Felix spent the second half of the 2024-2025 season on loan at AC Milan. The Serie A representative paid the striker's entire salary with a total loan cost of 5.5 million Euros. However, this loan contract does not have the option to buy at a discount. From there, Felix had to return to Chelsea to wait for the next direction. He may have hoped Milan would take a more risky turn, but that did not happen.
Since the beginning of the summer, Chelsea's board and captain Enzo Maresca have known that Felix only wanted to leave the team. They have created conditions for the former Benfica star, but the principle is that any player with unofficial or negative information about the future cannot accompany the club. Therefore, Felix was not on the list of 28 Chelsea players participating in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, a tournament in which Chelsea won the championship.
Joao Felix joined Chelsea again in August 2024 from Atletico Madrid in a £44.5 million deal. Previously, the midfielder spent the second half of the 2022-2023 season playing on loan at The Blues from the Madrid side.
Last season, the 25-year-old star only started 3 Premier League games before joining AC Milan on loan. After leaving, he said that if he had the chance, he would be "prepared to stay" at San Siro after his loan deal ended.
During his loan spell in Italy for Milan, the Portuguese international made 21 appearances, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist. This poor record has left his side out of the Champions League after a defeat to Feyenoord in the play-offs. Not only that, Milan also finished in 8th place in Serie A.
Felix's contract with Chelsea is valid until 2030, with an option to extend for another year. However, when he failed to meet the requirements, Felix still had to leave. He could not stick to that long-term contract to make an excuse to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are very active in the transfer market this summer, similar to 2023 when owner Todd Boehly took over the team. Jamie Gittens, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Estevao are newcomers to Stamford Bridge.
As for Al Nassr, Felix's destination, they finished last season in 3rd place in the Saudi Pro League, 13 points behind champions Al Ittihad. Therefore, Ronaldo and the Al Nassr leadership need to do many things to add to the attack, especially the deal with Joao Felix.
