Chelsea star ‘accepts pay cut’ to ‘complete dream transfer’ amid record €250m ‘historic offer’
Chelsea forward Joao Felix is set to accept a ‘pay cut’ in order to seal a ‘dream transfer’ this summer, according to reports.
The Blues have already been very busy in the summer transfer market with Chelsea already sealing seven new signings by mid-July.
Chelsea have brought in Kendry Paez, Mamadou Sarr, Dario Essugo, Estevao, Liam Delap, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens for over £200m in transfer fees.
And the Blues are now looking to offload some players who are surplus to requirements with Felix one player who is expected to depart before the end of the window.
After joining Chelsea for €57m in 2024, Felix played 20 times for the Blues in the 2024/25 campaign before joining AC Milan in February on loan until the end of the season.
And now the Blues want him off their books for good, while Caught Offside claim that Felix will ‘accept a pay cut’ in order to ‘complete dream transfer’ back to Benfica.
READ: Why ‘portfolio company’ Chelsea could and would sell Cole Palmer for €250m
Sources have told the website that the Portugal international ‘has already said no to approaches from Porto and Flamengo as he only wants to return to his former side Benfica.’
The main ‘obstacle’ that a deal faces is Benfica’s reluctance to pay more than €25m, less than half the amount Chelsea paid Atletico Madrid for the Portuguese attacker 12 months ago.
Benfica manager Bruno Lage recently hailed Felix as a “special player” and admits the club hierarchy have “talked” about his potential return.
Lage said at the end of June: “We have talked about Joao Felix [coming back] since he left Benfica.
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“He is a special player for Benfica, for me, and he is on his holidays. He is maybe asleep now because he is on the other side of the world. It’s important to be focused on the players who are going to play against Chelsea.”
The latest rumours about Felix come after rumours that Paris Saint-Germain will launch a stunning €250m offer for Cole Palmer this summer with the French club’s sporting directors said to be outlining ‘an ambitious plan to sign the 23-year-old, and according to sources close to the deal, the club is prepared to present a historic offer’.
Despite the rumour, the report insisted that Palmer ‘feels comfortable in London and has shown no signs of wanting to leave the club’ with PSG continuing ‘to wait for the tiniest opening to negotiate’.
