Portuesese star Joao Felix surplus to Pochettino’s requirements at Chelsea

It would appear that Chelsea’s new boss Mauricio Pochettino is not keen on retaining the services of Portuguese international star Joao Felix.

According to The Sun, Enrique Cerezo, the President of Atletico Madrid, issued a statement this Tuesday, May 30, that said: “We’ve been informed that Pochettino does not count with Joao Felix for Chelsea. He will return here, we’ll see. We have nothing planned”.

The Argentine is reportedly looking to trim the squad at Stamford Bridge after a huge amount of cash was spent on new players by Todd Boehly and his associates before the start of last season.

Since arriving in London on loan from the LaLiga giants last January, the 23-year-old Felix has only notched four goals. He found himself warming the bench during most of Frank Lampard’s tenure as interim manager.

It recently came to light that of all the new signings, Felix was one that Chelsea did not have the option to buy. His undoubted talent has not shone in his short spell with the club, although it has to be said, he also struggled during his last season in Madrid.

A number of big names are rumoured to be on their way out of Stamford Bridge to allow Pochettino to spend on new signings such as Sporting Lisbon’s midfield star, the Uruguayan international, Manuel Ugarte.

There has also been talk of Cameroon’s international goalkeeper Andre Onana arriving from Inter Milan. With Edouard Mendy’s name mentioned among the possible candidates to be leaving, that move would make sense.

Also tipped to be leaving the London club are Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech, Mateo Kovacic, Conor Gallagher, and Christian Pulisic, although this is all pure speculation by the media at this point.

Ziyech came close to signing for PSG at the end of the January transfer window so his name being included is no big surprise. he was already in the French capital negotiating the deal when a last-minute mixup over documents saw the window close before the deal was finalised.