2 days Ago By [email protected] (Joseph Chapman)
If they so wished, Aston Villa will have another opportunity to explore a move to finally bring Joao Felix to the club in the summer transfer window following the conclusion of this season. Attacker Felix has long been on Unai Emery's radar, and has been a player the Villa boss has attempted to bring to the club on a number of occasions previously, without ever being able to haul a deal over the line. Portuguese international Felix chose Chelsea in the January window of 2023 over Villa who, at that stage, had no European football on offer to prospective targets.
Felix then joined Barcelona on another loan move from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2023. Even last year, with Villa having claimed Champions League football, Felix - who left Atleti for good having fallen out of favour with Diego Simeone - returned to Stamford Bridge. In the January transfer window of this year, Felix was again of interest but ended up at AC Milan having failed to make a significant impression on Enzo Maresca.
Still only 25, the playmaker's long-term future remains in question from this summer; he signed a staggering seven-year deal when making his £46m from Atletico, but it remains to be seen if Maresca - who also has Noni Madueke, Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto, Cole Palmer and Christopher Nkunku among his other attacking options - has plans to reintegrate him. Felix could yet leave on another loan basis in the summer, but what would appear to be clear is that he won't be remaining in Milan according to Fabrizio Romano ; he has scored once in 11 appearances but hoped for more Champions League football, only for Milan to be dumped out in the play-offs shortly after his arrival. The Benfica academy star will return to London, at least initially, and Villa - depending on their financial situation in the transfer market and what they'd be able to promise a player like Felix when it comes to European competition - could have another go at luring him to Villa Park.
"There are names, one of them being Joao," Villa president of football operations Monchi said of Felix, prior to the January transfer deadline. "Emery likes him, because in the three transfer markets I have been in, the fourth with this one, he has always been mentioned and has been a small object of desire for Emery, but it is complicated, and I don’t know if we will be able to be there. “He is a player with a lot of quality and Emery has been able to recover players who were considered lost in his history as a coach, and he trusts in Joao’s talent.
The first time, Aston Villa were in the Conference and he wanted the Champions League, that’s why he went to Barcelona. Then, in the operation with [Conor] Gallagher and Atletico he had to enter into negotiations with Chelsea and we couldn’t get in.” Villa, of course, have a number of decisions on their own loan players to make; it's deemed unlikely that, without another year of Champions League football and a further increase in revenue streams, that they would be in a position to afford the wages of Felix, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
Villa also have Felix's Chelsea teammate Axel Disasi on their books until the season's end and the future of the defender is another situation which must be resolved come the end of the campaign, with Chelsea also keen to arrange an exit for the Frenchman, too. View gallery Everyday, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver all manner of news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content. Our dedicated reporter John Townley - who you can follow on X by clicking here - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
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