Atleti president reveals Pochettino does not want to keep Felix

Joao Felix is heading back to Atletico Madrid with Chelsea choosing not to retain the Portugal winger following his loan deal, according to the Spanish club’s president Enrique Cerezo.

Felix, 23, joined Chelsea on loan in January for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign and went on to score four goals in 20 appearances for the Blues.

On Monday, after a difficult campaign in which they finished a lowly 12th in the Premier League, Chelsea announced the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as their new head coach.

And, as reported by Marca, Cerezo said of Felix: “The truth is that I can’t tell you the plan with Joao.

“It’s the news we had yesterday, that the new coach doesn’t have him for Chelsea. We don’t have anything planned yet, Joao is an Atletico player now.”

Atletico paid £113million to sign Felix, who is under contract with them until 2027, from Benfica in 2019.

He has made 131 appearances for Diego Simeone’s side, scoring 34 goals, and helped them win the 2020-21 LaLiga title.