Does the Joao Felix Move Make Sense for Chelsea?

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Joao Felix recently completed an €11.00 million loan fee move from Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid to English Premier League side Chelsea. 

The 23-year-old winger is one of several new signings for the Blues, and the question being asked here is, does the Joao Felix move make sense for Chelsea?

Who is Joao Felix?

The right-footed forward, who can also play as a winger and attacking midfielder, was born in Viseu, Portugal, in November 1999. He wore the number 7 shirt for Atletico Madrid and the number 11 shirt for the Portuguese national football team and Chelsea. 

Before joining Atletico Madrid, he played in Portugal for Benfica, and while playing for them, he won the Primeira Liga (the top flight of men’s professional football in Portugal) in the 2018/19 season. He then moved to La Liga and joined Atletico Madrid, where he won La Liga (Spain’s top league) in the 2020/21 season. 

During his time at Benfica, he scored 15 goals in 26 appearances, and while playing for Atletico Madrid, he scored 25 goals in 96 games. So far, he has only made one appearance for Chelsea, in which he got sent off after just 58 minutes, making it one of the worst-ever debuts. He made his senior debut for Portugal in 2019, and since then, he has scored 4 goals in 28 games.

What are the odds of Chelsea winning the 2022/23 Premier League?

It’s not looking good for Chelsea to win the 2022/23 Premier League. They are currently only 10th in the league, and at most football betting sites, they are around the eighth odds-on favourite team to win the league outright behind Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester City, and league leaders Arsenal. 

A closer look at the odds

If you were to place a Premier League outright bet right now, you would find the following average odds:

  • Chelsea: 500/1 in UK fractional odds, which is 50,000 in American/money line odds, and 501.00 in European decimal odds, with only a 0.20% implied probability rate of winning the Premier League
  • Brighton: Same 500/1 odds as Chelsea
  • Tottenham Hotspur: 250/1 (25,000, or 251.00), with only a 0.40% chance of winning
  • Liverpool: 150/1 (15,000, or 151.00), with a 0.70% chance of winning
  • Newcastle United: 40/1 (4,000, or 41.00) with a 2.40% chance of winning
  • Manchester United: 11/1 (1,100, or 12.00) with an 8.30% chance of winning
  • Manchester City: 7/5 (140, or 2.40), with a 41.70% chance of winning
  • Arsenal: 41/50 (-122, or 1.82), with a 54.90% chance of winning

Final note

Whether bringing Joao Felix to Chelsea was a good move or not remains to be seen. We will just have to wait and see how the rest of the season pans out for the Blues. They still have 19 more games to play, and in their next three games, they play Liverpool away (Jan. 21st), Fulham at home (Feb. 3rd), and West Ham away (Feb. 11th).