The most explosive news of last weekend came from nowhere when it was revealed by top sources like Fabrizio Romano that Joao Felix was going to Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr for a huge fee.
Until then there had been very little interest in Felix. His old team Benfica seemed to be the only ones interested, and they were ready to sit tight and low-ball us until the deadline. Then from nowhere, the Saudis came in with a huge bid.
“Remarkable” bid saves Chelsea’s bacon in disaster transfer
They discussed this on the London is Blue podcast, trying to make sense of it all.
“He’s going to Saudi Arabia. The immediate fee is going to be €30m with a heavy sell on clause and add ons… Chelsea feel they have a guaranteed fee of €50m minimum for Joao Felix,” Dan Dormer said.
But as they also pointed out, the fact that it ended well for us doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake to bring Felix back in the first place:
“It’s remarkable business. It’s a move that had to be done for Chelsea. He obviously was not going to play for the club again. It was a terrible transfer, and it has now kind of been remedied,” was co-presenter Nick Verlaney’s take.
You can see their discussion in the clip embedded here:
🇵🇹 @nickverlaney & Dan on João Félix's departure to Saudi for an eyebrow raising price despite a poor season at club level.
🎧👉 https://t.co/kE2lnU7Vf6 pic.twitter.com/gyx2qPo7Xf
— London Is Blue Podcast ⭐️⭐️ (@LondonBluePod) July 29, 2025
Felix affair feels like it’s full of secrets
This whole Felix affair has something fishy about it – from the loan that finished a year before we signed him, to the relation to the Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid sale, to the bizarrely large fee we’re getting for him from Al Nassr.
It feels like there’s more going on than meets the eye – we just hope we get to find out more, one day.
