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Aston Villa have reportedly been offered the chance to sign Joao Felix this summer. The Atletico Madrid star is not staying at Chelsea after Mauricio Pocehttino opted against the move.
As per the Express, Aston Villa are back in for Felix this summer. Manager Unai Emery still wants the forward in his squad next season and believes he can lure him.
Emery confirmed that Aston Villa were interested in signing Felix in the January window but failed to get the deal done. The player was not interested in joining them, too, aso they had to look elsewhere. The Aston Villa manager was quoted by Sky Sports as saying:
“He’s a special player and was not totally impossible for us, but he wanted to play for a team in the Champions League. We are realistic about how we can improve and how we can add players to improve our squad.
"He has a high salary, and Chelsea paid a lot of money for that. I like him, but we were never really in the running for him.”
The report adds that Atletico Madrid are not sure of having Felix in the squad next season and are looking for clubs to take him. They want to sell him but are open to another loan deal.
Chelsea decide against signing Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid
Chelsea were interested in signing Joao Felix permanently but decided against it after Mauricio Pochettino made a decision not to. Pochettino is not interested in having the Portuguese star in his squad, as he sees Kai Havertz and Christopher Nkunku as his No. 10s, as per The Athletic.
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo informed about the new Chelsea manager's decision and said (via ESPN):
“We have been informed that Poch does not count with Joao Felix for Chelsea. We've known for less than 24 hours. He'll come, and we'll see what happens... we don't have anything planned."
Felix was enjoying his time at Chelsea and was interested in staying, saying (via Sky Sports):
"In terms of if I want to stay or not, I think the future, no one knows. Now I am just focused on tomorrow's game. After that, we don't know what will happen. But I am happy here. The club is so big is amazing; everyone behind the club is so good, so yes I am happy to be here."
Joao Felix, who joined on loan in January, scored four goals in 20 games for the Blues across competitions and was sent off on his debut.
