Chelsea are considering a move to bring Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix back to the club, 90min understands.
Felix spent the second half of last season on loan at Stamford Bridge, making 20 appearances in all competitions and chipping in with four goals, before returning to Atletico at the end of the campaign.
Since then, Felix has failed to play a minute for Atletico and has publicly admitted his desire to join Barcelona, who are interested in landing the 23-year-old but are currently focused on getting the signing of Joao Cancelo from Manchester City over the line.
Barcelona have not yet decided whether to formally pursue a move for Felix. The emergence of 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, coupled with the decisions to keep Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Raphinha, mean the La Liga champions may not have the space in the squad for another forward.
While Barcelona remains Felix’s preferred landing spot, 90min understands the Portugal international’s agents have remained in contact with Chelsea since his departure earlier this year.
Chelsea officials explored a permanent move for Felix last season but ultimately pulled out at the request of new manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has since spoken openly about his desire to sign a new creative, versatile forward.
After a move for Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise collapsed and an enquiry over Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe was rejected, Chelsea are now understood to be considering bringing Felix, who is known to have enjoyed his time in London, back to Stamford Bridge.
The final decision will rest with Pochettino but there are a number of figures on the Chelsea board who believe Felix could be the kind of player the new boss is keen to sign.
Having paid €126m (£113m) in 2019, Atletico are keen to part ways with Felix and are expected to be open to another loan move, which could appeal to Pochettino after the Chelsea manager spoke of the need to find a forward who does not block Armando Broja’s pathway to the first-team.
“We cannot sometimes go for some player that maybe will stop a player we have,” Pochettino said last week. “Maybe we have to be patient and try to adapt our squad to try and get positive results, waiting for Armando to get fully fit.”
As for Barcelona, a final agreement over Cancelo’s loan move from Manchester City has yet to be reached but is not far off. Once that deal is completed, the club will have to evaluate whether signing Felix is financially feasible.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta recently insisted the club will have the capability to sign more than one player before the end of the transfer window, although whether that includes someone with Felix’s high wages remains to be seen.