"I would like to stay to make history" - Joao Felix not willing to return to Chelsea

Joao Felix seems to have found his place in the elite at Milan. The Portuguese, who arrived at the 'Rossoneri' just a week ago and made his debut with a stunning goal against Roma, has shown his willingness to stay at the San Siro in his presentation to the team.

The Portugal international, bought in the summer by Chelsea from Atletico Madrid, has been on the move since 2023 and has not found his place at the top European clubs. He spent half of the 2022-23 season on loan at Chelsea without reaching his best level and in the 2023-24 season at Barcelona he made a great start before ending up being just a shadow in the last months of the competition.

That slump was crucial for Barca, despite his 10 goals and 6 assists, to show no interest in keeping the player. The playmaker then decided to return, in theory permanently, to Chelsea, the club that signed him as a free agent and where he played the first half of this season.

Despite playing 20 games and contributing 7 goals and 2 assists, the ‘Quinas’ international was virtually unused by Enzo Maresca in the Premier League and so decided to leave in January 2025. Milan, who paid 5.5 million euros for his signing, has been his destination, although Joao Felix revealed a last minute offer from Inter that he had to reject after having given his word to the ‘Rossoneri’.

Just 2 matches in 7 days were enough for the Portuguese player to know that he wants to stay at the club. At his presentation, he confessed to being an admirer of Kaka and also said that he would like to stay at the club for a long time: "For now, I'm only on loan until June, so we'll see how everything goes. For the moment, I like everything: the team, the fans, the infrastructure.... We've received a great welcome and I always want to be in a place where I feel good. Things can change quickly in football, but if I have the chance to stay here, I'd like to do it.

"My all-time favourite player has always been Kaka. I spoke to him years ago and I also met him in the United States, where we even did an interview together. He is my idol, but I don't like to make comparisons between him and me. I would also like to make history at Milan," he said of his admiration for Kaka.

Although Enzo Maresca did field him in other competitions, Joao Felix hardly featured in the Premier League, forcing his departure. In the past, the Italian coach showed certain differences with the player in the press room: "In my idea of the game, if Joao Felix plays it means that Cole Palmer doesn't play. At most, Joao Felix can play alongside him. We have several similar players and we can't play them all at the same time.