Chelsea are exploring ways to keep Joao Felix at the club on a permanent basis with Atletico Madrid continuing to demand £88million for the forward.
Felix, 23, has spent the last four months at Stamford Bridge after joining on loan from Atletico in January, scoring three goals in 13 appearances so far.
While they failed to include an option-to-buy clause in his loan deal, Chelsea are seeking a permanent move for the Portugal star as they look to present incoming boss Mauricio Pochettino with a clear picture of the squad he will have at his disposal.
According to the Evening Standard, Atletico still value Felix at £88million four years after forking out £110million to prise him away from Benfica, leaving Blues chiefs to scramble for an alternative solution given their unprecedented £600million spend in 2022-23.
One potential option is a swap deal, with Atletico understood to be interested in both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Marc Cucurella, who have endured miserable debut campaigns after joining last summer.
Todd Boehly (left) and his fellow Chelsea officials are exploring ways to keep Joao Felix (right) at the club permanently this summer
Atletico Madrid are demanding £88million for the Blues to sign Felix on a permanent basis
One potential option is a swap deal, with Atletico interested in both Marc Cucurella (left) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (right)
Offering Aubameyang and Cucurella, who cost Chelsea a combined £72million, as bait in a permanent transfer for Felix may therefore represent a good deal for all parties.
Nevertheless, Aubameyang has set his sights on a return to Barcelona after confirming as such over the weekend, while AC Milan are also circling.
Offloading Cucurella, meanwhile, would force Boehly to admit an expensive transfer mistake after paying £62million to sign him from Brighton just nine months ago.
Both players have drawn criticism for a series of abject performances this season, with Aubameyang falling out of favour after scoring three goals in 21 games and Cucurella even earning jeers from his own supporters during a difficult campaign.
Felix has instead shown glimpses of his breathtaking technical quality, meaning Chelsea are hoping to keep him around ahead of Pochettino’s arrival this summer.
The Benfica academy graduate, who scored in Saturday’s 3-1 win at Bournemouth, is not keen on a return to Madrid given Diego Simeone is expected to remain in charge next season.
Yet according to Spanish…