Joao Felix has enjoyed regular minutes for AC Milan since he joined them on loan from Chelsea in the winter transfer window, but he’s part of a team that has had a difficult few weeks.
Joao Felix, 25, was in and out of the starting XI at Chelsea in the first half of the season. However, the on-loan attacking midfielder has been a regular at the San Siro since his move to Italian football.
Milan were recently dumped out of the Champions League after losing to Feyenoord, plus their league form in Serie A means they sit eighth in the division table.
On Thursday night, Felix was part of a disappointing 2-1 league defeat away to Bologna.
Chelsea are expected to sell Felix once he returns from his loan spell in the summer. Will he do enough to convince Italian giants Milan to splash the cash on his signature, though? So far, he’s only had one goal and zero assists in seven appearances across all competitions.
Felix previously expressed his desire to stay with Milan beyond the current loan deal, so let’s wait and see what happens with his future.
The Italian media were left seriously unimpressed by what they saw from Felix in Milan’s loss to Bologna, describing him as a “ghost”.
Tuttomercatoweb wrote: “Joao Felix 5 – When he touches the ball you can see his talent, but he lacks a bit of nastiness. He suffers from Bologna’s physicality, always having a man on top of him and he never manages to free himself in a comfortable position. Ghost.”
Calciomercato said: “Joao Felix 5: Sixth consecutive match as a starter for the Portuguese, certainly the worst in terms of performance. He touches few balls and almost all on the midfield line. He doesn’t duet with [Tijjani] Reijnders, in fact he steps on his feet a bit. The talent is there but everything else is missing.”
Milan fans recently turned on Felix by criticising his performance when the club were eliminated from the Champions League. He’s since followed that up with back-to-back disappointing contributions in league defeats.
There’s never been a question mark around Felix’s individual talent because he can be so pleasing on the eye when he’s got the football at his feet, but he’s guilty of letting the game pass him by at times.
Milan were desperate for three points in midweek to give them a much-needed lift, but their struggles on the pitch continued with a defeat on the road.
Felix, who was named in the starting XI again in his preferred No 10 role, only lasted an hour before he was taken off.
It may have been Felix’s most underwhelming display in Milan colours since his arrival in the January transfer window because he barely laid a glove on the opposition. Unfortunately, it was reminiscent of what we’ve sometimes seen from him at Chelsea.
Even though Cole Palmer’s form has dipped for the Blues right now in the No 10 role, we doubt any supporters would trade him for Felix.
