Atletico Madrid star willing to take pay cut to join Chelsea

Chelsea may have been handed a summer transfer boost in their bid for a new striker this summer.

This comes as recent report claimed Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix is ready to accept a pay cut to complete a return to Stamford Bridge.

Recall that Felix spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Stamford Bridge, scoring four goals in 20 competitive games before returning to his parent.

Chelsea were initially in the race to sign Felix’s Atletico colleague Samu Omorodion, but reports over the weekend revealed that the proposed transfer had fallen through.

As a result of this Conor Gallagher’s proposed switch from Chelsea to Atletico now hangs in the balance because La Liga side seemingly need money to facilitate the signing of the England international.

However, Felix could help make the deal happen, with The Telegraph reporting that the forward is prepared to take a significant pay cut to join the Blues.

According to the reports, the west London side could sign Felix for an initial fee under £40m despite the fact he is under contract until June 2029.

With Felix’s future at stake, Atletico would rather offload him on a permanent transfer rather than another loan deal.