"Pochettino was not convinced about this solution" - Fabrizio Romano explains why Chelsea did not sign Joao Felix

Fabrizio Romano has stated Chelsea decided against signing Joao Felix because of Mauricio Pochettino. The new manager wanted to go with Christoper Nkunku, and it was not ideal to spend somewhere between €70-€80 million, the asking price set by Atletico Madrid.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the Italian journalist claimed Atletico Madrid were not interested in loaning out Felix at the start of the summer. He hinted that they only decided to loan him out to Barcelona after all options dried up for the Portuguese star. He said:

"The feeling at Chelsea from June to August was that for Atlético it was impossible to accept a loan deal. It was a permanent transfer or nothing and Atlético knew Chelsea decided against spending €70m to €80m. It was a no for Chelsea from the financial point of view."

Romano added that Pochettino was happy to work with Nkunku and did not think it was needed to spend big on the Barcelona loanee. He continued:

"And also from a technical point of view, Pochettino was not convinced about this solution and believed that Nkunku was perfect for Chelsea in that kind of creative position. So, they (Pochettino and the club) decided together to go on a different way."

Felix played the second half of the 2022/23 season at Chelsea and scored four goals in all games.

Joao Felix joined Barcelona after Chelsea sent back the Atletico Madrid star

Chelsea sent back Joao Felix after his loan spell at the club last season. Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo confirmed the decision during a press conference in May and added that they were unsure about the plans for the Portuguese star.

Felix, who previously described the prospect of joining Barcelona a "dream", was visibly emotional during his unveiling at Nou Camp. He has got off to an exciting start with the Blaugrana, scoring twice in his first four league appearances.

He was quoted by ESPN as saying:

"The truth is that I can't tell you the plan with Joao. The news that we received yesterday is that the new manager doesn't count on him at Chelsea. We don't have anything planned, Joao is an Atletico player for now."

Felix has now joined Barcelona for the season and has started well. Deco, the Catalan side's sporting director, spoke to the media this week and said:

“Joao Felix is happy and enjoying being here. He already played a great game against Betis in the fact that he also scored, but the team in general must be praised. Everyone played a great game.

"We scored different goals, which is always good. We all played well; Raphinha, Lewandowksi, those who came on from the bench. We have to continue working as a team, we have to keep our feet on the ground.”

The Portuguese star has scored three goals in as many matches for the Blaugrana.