Ask AC Milan and they will tell you Joao Felix’s loan contract runs until June 30, 2025.
If seen through to the end, that would prevent the Portuguese playmaker from returning to Chelsea in time for the start of this summer’s Club World Cup in the United States. The Blues’ tournament begins a fortnight earlier against Mexico’s Leon in Atlanta and they may well have played four matches in the inaugural 32-team competition by the time Felix returns.
However, it is not as straight-forward as the Italians might have you believe, for Confidential has also been told by Stamford Bridge sources that a clause was added which would allow them to bring the 25-year-old back to feature on that trip.
Whether happens remains to be seen after Chelsea allowed him to leave six months into a seven-year contract, having joined from Atletico Madrid for £46.3million in the summer.
Felix is represented by Jorge Mendes, whose Gestifute agency also look after Milan manager Sergio Conceicao, who is under pressure after three consecutive losses.
Felix is already on the verge of managing more minutes in Serie A – 356 since signing for Milan last month – than the 364 he was handed in the Premier League by Chelsea all season.
Chelsea let Joao Felix go to AC Milan just six months into a seven-year contract
Felix was signed for £46.3m but has already nearly matched his Chelsea minutes total at Milan
The talk in Italy is that Milan are unlikely to push to sign him permanently this summer
That was the crux of why he agreed to leave in January. He wanted more game time than Enzo Maresca was willing to give him in his preferred No 10 position. However, Felix is being butchered by the Milan media, including one line from Fabio Ravezzani which went: ‘He is as handsome as he is useless.’
Another local correspondent told us the talk in Italy is that Milan are unlikely to push to sign him permanently this summer, when they would need to negotiate a fee as the club hold no option or obligation to buy .
It leaves him facing further turbulence as the footballing vagabond moving from club to club in search of a fixed home, each time expressing his desire to stay for good.
It happened after he arrived at Chelsea on loan in March 2023: ‘I am very, very happy.’ When his season-long loan at Barcelona was coming to an end in June 2024: ‘My plan is clear, I love Barcelona and I want to stay.’
When he rejoined Chelsea last summer: ‘I needed to stay permanently in one place. There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea. I see a perfect place to shine.’ When he moved to Milan last month: ‘If there’s a chance to stay here, I’d like that.’
Chelsea fans have been using a clip of Conor Gallagher committing two terrific tackles for Atletico to ask why they sent him in the opposite direction to Felix, with both deals announced on the same day. Atletico like Gallagher and fans have nicknamed him El Pitbull for how he chases every ball.
But the Cobham graduate has only started once in their last nine matches as Diego Simeone has settled on a 4-4-2 involving a two-man midfield of Pablo Barrios and Rodrigo de Paul – one holding and another who attacks more. That is reducing Gallagher to a bench option for now.
Still, it is difficult to dispute who got the better deal out of Felix and Gallagher and I know who my money would be on us seeing for certain at the 2025 Club World Cup.
Felix scored once in 12 Premier League games this season, but did find the net six times in cup competitions
Conor Gallagher has impressed Atletico Madrid fans after joining on the same day that Felix went to Chelsea
Is this your (birthday) card?
Pictures emerged this week of England manager Thomas Tuchel catching up with Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League winners such as Reece James, Jorginho, Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell.
For those wondering when and why, I’m getting the word that they were taken on Saturday night at a swanky private party celebrating the 50th birthday of former Blues director Marina Granovskaia, in which a ‘master mentalist’ put in a mesmerising performance on stage.
England manager Thomas Tuchel was partying with his 2021 Champions League-winning player Jorginho
While it meant Tuchel snubbed Manchester City’s FA Cup match that night – relax, I’m only joking, let’s give the bloke a break – the Three Lions boss was among those wowed by Lior Suchard.
One of the world’s most coveted mind readers for hire at high-end events, he got James and a few other famous faces, including current Blues defender Trevoh Chalobah, involved in an act which guests say stole the show (no offence to the live jazz band or the cocktails and caviar).
Hopefully, Suchard can see great success in England and Chelsea’s futures.
Todd Gotta-goehly
Attempts at stopping Chelsea’s co-owner Todd Boehly for a separate chat after his FT Business of Football Summit address last week were futile as the American billionaire made a beeline for the lifts at London’s Peninsula Hotel once stepping off stage.
Sorry, gotta go, flight to catch and all that.
It is understood Boehly flew in from Miami for the talk and was flying immediately out of London on other business.
Busy man, after all, and he spent the weekend visiting one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in Petra, Jordan.
He wore a Chelsea-branded tracksuit top, as the pictures provided to Confidential show. The local tourism board is working on bringing sporting events such as marathons, climbing, off-road racing and the like to Petra.
Todd Boehly shot off from the FT Business of Football summit all the way to Petra, Jordan
The local tourism board are working on bringing sporting events such as marathons, climbing, off-road racing and the like to Petra
Boehly and his accompanying delegation had investment opportunities presented to them during the trip.
Back to the FT Summit and I’m told Boehly was not pre-warned what questions were going to be asked by moderator Arash Massoudi, who chucked in the odd cheeky one on Chelsea, including at the end when he questioned whether the ownership set-up will stay as is for the next year at least.
Boehly answered: ‘Listen, I can’t predict the future. If I could, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.’ Nothing wrong with a little spice.
Maybe Behdad Eghbali will stop at the lifts if he speaks at next year’s edition. We’ll see.
From Boehly to Trimboli
Also at the Peninsula Hotel was Frank Trimboli, the co-head of football at leading agency CAA Base, who brokered Cole Palmer’s move from Manchester City to Chelsea in 2023 for £40million, rising to £42.5m.
Here’s some insight into that transfer from Trimboli, who said: ‘Manchester City understood the value of the player. They had a lot of other players who they thought at the time were more ready than Cole to be playing. They knew that potentially his future value was going to be high.
‘Given the amount of football Cole had played, it was still a high number. There were people at Chelsea who had previously worked at Manchester City so they knew what they were buying.
Cole Palmer joined Chelsea for an initial £40m in 2023 and that looks cheap now
‘Credit to Chelsea because they were the ones who put the money on the table. Twelve months after that, that £40m looks like money very well spent.’
Indeed, there is no point in guessing what Palmer would be worth now because Chelsea are nowhere near entertaining a sale, and Confidential readers may recall how we reported in last week’s column that there is no release clause in the 22-year-old’s updated contract based on Champions League qualification this season.
No 26 set for 26 miles
John Terry has signed up to run this year’s London Marathon alongside Frank Lampard’s former assistant Jody Morris.
They will cover the 26.2 miles on behalf of the children’s charity Rays of Sunshine, who support and grant special wishes for seriously ill youngsters aged three to 18.
Terry currently works with Chelsea in a consultancy role, that focuses on him helping the academy at Cobham.
Chelsea sign new goalkeeper …coach
Chelsea’s latest hire has been to bring in Mark Mason from Arsenal as assistant head of goalkeeping, though I’m told his role will be academy focused.
Mason was head of academy goalkeeping with the Gunners, while he has also worked for Inter Miami, Brighton, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Southend and the England national teams. He is also a specialist set-piece coach, which could benefit the Blues.
As for Chelsea’s senior goalkeeping situation, it would come as no surprise if Djordje Petrovic is installed as No 1 by the time the next Premier League season gets going.
Chelsea have poached goalkeeper coach Mark Mason from Arsenal for their academy
Djordje Petrovic has been in superb form on loan at Strasbourg, with four clean sheets in a row
The 25-year-old Serbian is in line to stay upon returning from his loan with French sister club Strasbourg, where he has been earning rave reviews and has been tracked closely by Chelsea’s loan department.
He was named man of the match in their 1-0 win over Auxerre which confirmed a fourth clean sheet in a row and lifted Liam Rosenior’s side up to seventh in Ligue 1.
Petrovic, Robert Sanchez, Filip Jorgensen and incoming 19-year-old Mike Penders, from Genk, are why Chelsea insiders are adamant they will not be signing a new goalkeeper this summer, as we reported last week.
Bear that in mind when you hear them linked to Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen, Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher and whoever else.
Luis phooey and the news
Chelsea are not in for Paris Saint-Germain football advisor Luis Campos, despite speculation.
The club are behind their current sporting director set-up and any attempts at destabilising the position by using them in rumours are very much unwelcome.
Campos’ contract with PSG is believed to expire this summer and reports from France have suggested talks over an extension are tense. That deadlock has coincided with the Portuguese executive looking like a wanted man.
PSG’s Luis Campos (left) is the subject of a lot of rumours… but the truth is a little different
Chelsea are not the only ones who have been incorrectly linked, mind. Arsenal have likewise had it happen to them amid their search for a new sporting director after Edu’s exit.
The Saudi Arabian Football Federation also released a statement denying reports that they had offered Campos a lucrative 10-year deal to develop their national team.
Drogba, Mourinho …and Roman numerals?
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba used his X account, which boasts 2.7million followers, to defend Jose Mourinho last week after the Fenerbahce boss was accused of racism by Galatasaray. Mourinho had said the home bench were ‘jumping like monkeys’ during the Istanbul derby.
The original version of Drogba’s statement included a line which read: ‘Trust me when I tell you, I have known Jose for xx years and he is not a racist.’
That use of ‘xx’ prompted a fair few accusations that the former Galatasaray striker was told what to tweet and forgot to fill in the gap before doing so, while others joked the 46-year-old had simply forgotten to cap up his Roman numerals for 20.
Jose Mourinho and Didier Drogba formed a glorious partnership at Chelsea
The line was soon edited to read: ‘Trust me when I tell you I have known Jose for 25 years and he is not a racist.’
However, those close to Drogba have balked at the suggestion he would have been told to tweet the show of support for his former manager over his former club.
Mourinho has since been banned for four games and fined £35,194. The Portuguese manager responded by suing Galatasaray for 1,907,000 Turkish lira (£41,468) – a number significant as Fenerbahce were founded in 1907 – for ‘moral damages’.
Former Blues hero Joe Cole has been the target of a fake social media account pretending to be him
Cole’s copycat
The X account of Joe Cole gained great popularity last week.
However, check in with the man himself and you’ll learn it is actually a fake causing a headache and fooling fans.
Cole himself has clarified as such on Instagram as he asked for help in reporting @therealjoecole1.
Chalk it up to the perils of Elon Musk et al making it so that anyone can secure a blue tick, so long as you have mum’s credit card details.