Chelsea star Joao Felix is set to become the fourth most expensive player of all time ahead of another big-money move. The Blues have agreed a permanent deal for the forward to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr.
Felix endured yet another tough spell at Chelsea after rejoining the Premier League side from Atletico Madrid last summer. He arrived at Stamford Bridge shortly after Conor Gallagher had moved in the opposite direction. The Portugal international is now on the move again after playing in only 363 minutes of top-flight football last term.
According to the BBC, Chelsea have now agreed a £43.7million fee with Al-Nassr to offload the 25-year-old after only one season. It means that, remarkably, Felix has moved for a combined £204m during his career. Only Ronaldo, Neymar and Romelu Lukaku have moved for higher combined fees during their careers.
As a teenager, Felix moved from Benfica to Atletico Madrid for a staggering £113m. He joined Chelsea for £45m last season, having also spent the second half of the 2022-23 campaign on loan in west London.
Felix has also set back Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan substantial loan fees during his career. A career that has been stuck at a crossroads for some time could now get back on track in Saudi Arabia, where Felix will line up alongside Manchester United and Real Madrid icon Ronaldo.
Chelsea are determined to recoup some cash after their big spending this summer. Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Joao Pedro headline a flurry of incomings that have cost a combined £210m. The spending is unlikely to stop, either, with interest in Xavi Simons and Jorrel Hato likely to further elevate the size of their outlay.
UEFA has ruled that Chelsea will not be able to register new signings for the 2025-26 Champions League campaign unless they have a positive transfer balance. That explains big-money outgoings such as Felix and Noni Madueke, who joined Arsenal for an initial £48.5m.
Djordje Petrovic, Mathis Amougou, Bashir Humphreys, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Marcus Bettinelli have also departed. There could be further departures from Stamford Bridge over the coming weeks.
Among Chelsea’s other arrivals this summer are Estevao Willian, Kendry Paez, Dario Essugo and Mamadou Sarr. However, a couple of those players could go back out on loan, with Enzo Maresca’s squad already stacked. It remains to be seen how many of those youngsters remain with the first-team squad this term.