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Joao Félix crashes in his debut with Chelsea

Joao Félix retires crestfallen after being expelled from the match. / efe

He blurs a good first half against Fulham with an expulsion in the 58th minute of the match

Igor Barcia

He was eager to show his worth and to enjoy football again and during the first half against Fulham in a postponed Premier League match, he seemed on the right track. But Joao Félix’s debut with Chelsea will not go down in history neither because of a victory nor because of his performance on the pitch, but rather because of the direct red card he saw in the 58th minute after a great template for Tete that led him directly to the changing rooms at Craven Cottage.

The Portuguese has been the protagonist in this winter market with a sung departure from Atlético. His scarce participation and his little feeling with Simeone opened the door for him to leave the rojiblanco club in the form of a loan until the end of the season while waiting to find out about the future of the Argentine coach at the Metropolitan. The agreement between Atlético and Chelsea is around ten million euros for his assignment and does not include a mandatory purchase clause for a footballer who extended his contract until June 2027. Joao Félix arrived at the mattress club in the summer of 2019 at a cost of 127 million euros and has played 131 games, scoring 34 goals but without meeting the expectations that were generated upon his arrival at the mattress club.

Despite his poor adaptation to Chelsea’s style of play and almost without knowing his teammates, Graham Potter gave him the title for the match against Fulham, who before the game led a depressed Chelsea by three points that seeks to reactivate with the presence of the Portuguese striker in their ranks. And everything seemed to go well in the first part, where Joao was very participatory and finished off up to five times in search of his scoring training in the Premier. But in the second, with the score tied at 1, he searched too hard for a divided ball and hit Tete’s shin. A violent action that offered no doubts for Coote, the referee of the match. Direct red. «There was no malice, but I understand the red. He played really well, we saw his quality and it’s doubly disappointing for us,” admitted Potter with water up his neck after a defeat (2-1) that left Chelsea in tenth place, eight points behind the European zone.

Regarding his ownership, Potter was clear from the beginning. “It’s a combination of many things. The training that he did, the quality that he has and that the team needs a little boost and it can be given with his quality. He is a confident boy and he just wants to play. He just has to be himself,” said the coach before the match. For now, Potter will have to wait to have his quality again because the Portuguese will be penalized after his red card.

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