Joao Felix’s dream start for his new club Chelsea turned into a nightmare after he got sent-off in the 58th minute during the Blues’ 2-1 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage. However, it won’t be incorrect to say that not only Felix, but Chelsea too had a nightmarish game against the promoted side. The loss now leaves the Blues languishing in the 10th place, whereas a win would have uplifted them to level on points with seventh-placed Liverpool.
While the defeat must have left manager Graham Potter utterly frustrated and under pressure, the Chelsea boardroom too have been left scratching their heads. Joao Felix has been signed on an expensive loan deal of £9m from Atletico Madrid for just four-and-a–half-months. Furthermore, Chelsea will also cover the hefty wages of the attacker in full, which amount up to £250,000-a-week. And now the 23-year-old has been hit with the a three-game ban for the red card against the Cottagers.
Joao Felix’s three game ban is worth £3m to Chelsea
Chelsea have spent a significant chunk of their transfer money to acquire Joao Felix on loan was a result of their desperation to turnaround their ailing season and arm Potter with some attacking reinforcements. Potter is already without Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja and the latest to join the injury squad, Christian Pulisic who could be out for a couple of months.
Therefore, Chelsea didn’t hesitate to pay the £9m loan fee to Atletico, plus cover the Portugal international’s wages in full to acquire his services and bolster their attack. He was right away thrown into action by the Blues’ boss, starting the game alongside Mason Mount and Kai Havertz in attack. Felix was off to a blistering start, despite his side going down 1-0 inside the first 25 minutes.
The loanee notched up 6 shots, 6 duels won, 2 dribbles completed and 1 chance created across his 58 minutes. Felix was a threat throughout his time on the pitch, before executing a rash tackle on Fulham’s Kenny Tete, directly diving into the defender to recover the ball which he lost with a lose touch. The outcome was known as the referee flashed a red at the Portuguese international.
Moreover, Felix is now hit with a three-game suspension for the sending-off, which means he will be unavailable for selection for a month, until Chelsea’s West Ham clash on 11 February. The month-long absence is going to cost the Blues dearly, as they will have to pay him £1m while he sits out given his wages of £250,000-per-week. Chelsea have also paid Atletico £9m loan fee, which again means a payment of £1.8m for a month where the striker won’t be playing a single minute.
As the numbers build up, Joao Felix’s three-game suspension is going to cost Chelsea close to £3m. Moreover, Potter’s attacking options again have been depleted with Felix’s sending-off, as a run of crucial games awaits them with a trip to Merseyside on 21 January to face Liverpool the most significant of them. But as evident, Joao Felix won’t be available for the game, as he will be serving his second game out by then.