Chelsea offload ANOTHER flop to Aston Villa despite seven-year contract

Aston Villa are ready to reignite their interest in Joao Felix, with Chelsea gearing up to offload the AC Milan loanee after just one season, according to a report.

Quite predictably, the Portuguese’s second stint at Stamford Bridge has not worked out. Felix was signed for a whopping €52 million from Atletico Madrid last summer purely so that Chelsea could move Conor Gallagher in the other direction.

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It was a transfer made exclusively with financial considerations in mind and with no regard for sporting merit. Chelsea had no need for Felix and, in general, the 25-year-old has struggled to justify being employed by top clubs basically since he first left Benfica.

Chelsea, who handed Felix a seven-year contract last summer, offloaded him to AC Milan for the rest of the season in January, but the Rossoneri have already decided that they have no intention of keeping him. With the exception of a promising debut in the Coppa Italia, the attacker has been a disaster in Italy.

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Emery still loves Felix

Unsurprisingly, Chelsea are looking to get Felix off the books this summer and a familiar face could come to their rescue once again. Over the past two windows, Aston Villa have been more than happy to do business with the Blues for their unwanted stars.

Last summer, Villa wanted the aforementioned Gallagher before signing Ian Maatsen from Chelsea – which was also a questionable transaction to avoid breaching financial rules – and they then welcomed Axel Disasi to the club in January.

According to Ben Jacobs, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery still retains his well-documented attraction to Felix. The Spaniard has tried to secure the 25-year-old’s signature for several transfer windows and his efforts could finally meet with success this summer.

Jacobs reports that Chelsea would ideally like to offload Felix permanently, but they could be willing to negotiate an initial loan. Villa are interested in a potential permanent move, but financial considerations will inform their final decision.

His hefty wages are said to be an issue for the Birmingham club, while they will also have to decide how to proceed with current loanees Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, both of whom have been a success so far.

It is claimed that PSG would be willing to sell Asensio for around €15 million. Rashford, meanwhile, has a purchase option in his deal which stands at €48m, so it remains to be seen whether Villa will have the financial wiggle room – and the space in the squad – to also sign Felix.