Chelsea's Felix completes AC Milan loan move

Joao Felix has scored 11 goals in 40 appearances across his two spells at Chelsea

Chelsea forward Joao Felix has completed a loan move to AC Milan until the end of the season.

The Italian side have paid a £5m loan fee for Felix, with no obligation to buy the 25-year-old Portugal international in the summer.

Though the deal was only announced on Tuesday, the required paperwork was submitted in advance of Monday's Serie A and Premier League transfer deadline.

Felix signed a seven-year contract when he moved to Chelsea on a £45m permanent deal in August, having had a loan spell at Stamford Bridge during the second half of the 2022-23 season.

The Felix deal came about in unusual circumstances as Chelsea and Atletico Madrid exchanged players, with academy graduate Conor Gallagher going to Spain for £33m.

Chelsea's talks to sign Atletico striker Samu Omorodion collapsed, with the Felix deal seemingly a replacement to enable Atletico to find the required funds to complete the Gallagher transfer.

Gallagher had entered the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge so Chelsea wanted to sell to generate profit and avoid losing him on a free transfer in the summer of 2025.

However, Felix has only started three Premier League matches this campaign, though regularly featured in cup competitions, scoring seven goals.

The forward began his career at Benfica and moved for £113m to Atletico Madrid in July 2019, a deal which at the time was the fifth-most expensive transfer in history.

He spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Barcelona before his move back to Stamford Bridge last summer.

Milan, eighth in Serie A, play Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and have a two-legged play-off against Feyenoord in the Champions League this month.

'Man for the small occasions' - analysis

BBC Sport football news reporter Nizaar Kinsella:

Chelsea's road to re-signing Joao Felix began at least a year earlier.

The Blues offered new contracts to Gallagher but – as with Mason Mount – couldn't reach an agreement and were looking to sell him due to the pressures around the Profit and Sustainability rules.

They rejected a £40m bid from West Ham in the summer of 2023 but no deal was done and they were more desperate to sell a year later.

In PSR terms, Chelsea made £33m by selling Gallagher to offset the £9m per season when paying off Felix's transfer fee over the first five years of his deal - and so came out of the transaction at the time believing they were in profit.

However, the writing felt on the wall for Joao Felix when he barely celebrated his two goals against Morecambe in the FA Cup third round in early January.

The Portugal international has been 'the man for the small occasions' at Chelsea, the Telegraph match report said.

It highlighted how Felix mostly only started against lesser opposition in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Conference League under manager Enzo Maresca.

The main reason he has struggled for minutes is Cole Palmer's presence as a number 10, while the fact Christopher Nkunku has not joined Manchester United or Bayern Munich is another reason to send him out on loan.

It's a strange situation.

Having previously been on loan at Chelsea and Barcelona while he was an Atletico player, he is looking at his third temporary home as he tries realise the potential he showed when first breaking through at Benfica.