Joao Felix has moved to Chelsea as the latest acquisition in the Todd Boehly era, with the Blues looking to respond after a poor start to the season.
Eliminated from both domestic cup competitions by Manchester City, Graham Potter's side sit 10th in the Premier League and 10 points adrift of Manchester United in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Joao Felix arrives as yet another attacker in the quest to find a reliable outlet in the final third, joining on loan from Atletico Madrid until the end of the season.
Having failed to fully establish himself in Diego Simeone's plans after a €126million (£113m) transfer from Benfica in 2019, Joao Felix has a point to prove – though there are questions to be asked as to whether he is the addition Chelsea truly need.
Using Opta data, Stats Perform has delved into the numbers to assess whether Joao Felix can be the man Potter's side are crying out for or whether he is further evidence of a scattergun transfer market approach by the Blues.
Atletico's restrictions
Although never scoring more than 10 goals or contributing more than five assists in a single season for Atletico, Joao Felix's impact has been steadily growing since his first campaign in the Spanish capital.
In 2019-20, the Portugal international averaged a direct goal contribution every 207 minutes, reducing to 157 minutes in 2020-21, 137 minutes last season and 120 minutes this term – where he was already halfway to last season's mark of 10 goals and had three assists.
Given Simeone's style does not suit expressive players like Joao Felix, such a return can be taken as a positive sign of his ability in the final third, though a shooting accuracy of 47.29 per cent in LaLiga since 2019-20 ranks him near the bottom of forwards who have scored at least 10 goals in that period.
Atletico create significantly fewer shooting opportunities than many of their European counterparts, however, ranking outside the top 25 for most shots across all competitions in Europe's top-five leagues since Joao Felix joined. In comparison, Chelsea are fourth.
As Joao Felix has a low conversion rate, the 23-year-old needs more chances in order to increase his goal tally, which Atletico have not been able to provide on a regular basis.
Chelsea's creative void
Chelsea fans have celebrated just 20 goals in the Premier League this season, with only supporters from the bottom six and Crystal Palace having fewer opportunities to cheer, though that only scratches the surface of the Blues' issues in the final third.
A shot conversion rate of 10.75 per cent this season is only narrowly behind top-four chasing Manchester United (11.1) and Liverpool (11.6), showing that converting chances is not the issue, but instead lies with the lack of opportunities being created.
Chelsea have had 186 shots in the Premier League this season, only Brentford, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have had fewer, identifying the Blues' lack of creativity is perhaps a bigger cause for concern than a reliable scorer.
Raheem Sterling stands as Chelsea's most potent outlet this season with 22 chances created, a figure lower than the highest total of a single player from any of their rivals in the established top-six and European-chasing Newcastle United.
Converting those chances has been another big issue for Chelsea this term, with no player hitting the five-goal mark in the Premier League yet this season and only four players having scored twice or more this term.
Fix it Felix?
With a need to improve creativity and their record in front of goal, Chelsea will look to Joao Felix as a potential fix for both issues – though four goals and 10 chances created in LaLiga for Atletico this season does not suggest an immediate solution.
The biggest question mark over the deal, though, is where exactly Joao Felix fits into Potter's starting line-up, as neither he nor Kai Havertz are recognised centre-forwards but would likely have to adopt a false nine role.
At Atletico, Joao Felix has had the biggest impact down the left, with 53.95 per cent of his touches this season down that side, while Havertz has been more influential on either flank than he has through the middle.
Perhaps surprisingly, it is Havertz who shows the better capability of being transformed into a more natural option through the middle. Since he arrived at Stamford Bridge in September 2020, he boasts more goals and a higher shooting accuracy than Joao Felix.
The Portuguese's conversion rate of 15.82 per cent in that period is slightly better than Havertz's 14.07 per cent but the Germany international has had 20 more attempts at goal, benefitting from Chelsea's higher volume attacking approach compared to Atletico's.
On the face of it, Joao Felix does not stand out as the fix that Chelsea are crying out for this season, though the ability for Potter to chop and change his forward three with either Havertz or his new addition through the middle should yield more effectiveness in the final third.
Xavi commits U-turn and elects to stay at Barcelona
Barcelona head coach Xavi will continue in his role next season after an unexpected reversal of his decision to leave at the end of the 2023-24 campaign, according to widespread reports.
The former Barcelona midfielder announced in January that he would walk away from the job at the end of the current season, even though his contract was due to run until the end of the following term.
Xavi acknowledged the Barcelona role had taken its toll but reportedly changed his plans after a meeting with Blaugrana president Joan Laporta on Wednesday.
The 44-year-old was initially appointed as Barca coach in 2021 before leading the LaLiga giants to the top-flight title in the 2022-23 campaign.
Xavi's initial announcement of his intentions to depart Barcelona came after a tough period following defeats to Girona, Real Madrid and Athletic Club before revealing the news in the aftermath of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal.
The Blaugrana turned their fortunes around after that decision became public, though, going 13 games unbeaten across all competitions.
Unsurprisingly, that run encouraged Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco to plead with Xavi to continue until the end of his agreed contract.
Though that undefeated streak ended with a 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain that dumped Barcelona out of the Champions League quarter-finals, Xavi has now agreed to stay in his role.
The league title is almost out of reach this term, however, as Real Madrid moved 11 points clear of second-placed Barca with Sunday's 3-2 Clasico victory.
Liverpool line up Feyenoord coach Slot as Klopp replacement
Arne Slot appears to be at the front of the queue to replace Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager.
Klopp confirmed in January that he would be leaving the Reds at the end of the season.
Xabi Alonso, who has led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title, was swiftly established as a leading candidate to take the helm at Anfield, where he starred as a player for the Reds between 2004 and 2009.
The 42-year-old, however, is staying put in Germany, and Liverpool's search for Klopp's successor has taken them to Feyenoord's door.
Slot has been previously linked to jobs in the Premier League. Leeds United wanted to appoint him last season before their relegation to the Championship, while he was targeted by Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglou.
The Dutchman intimated when linked with Spurs: "A normal next step would be to go abroad and I've always said that the best league in the world is the Premier League."
Ideally, Liverpool will be aiming for a coach who can come close to replicating Klopp's style of play, and in particular has a flair for working with and developing young players.
Slot has enjoyed fantastic success in Rotterdam. He became Feyenoord head coach in December 2022, after leaving AZ, and went on to win the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, having reached the Europa League final in the previous season.
The 45-year-old has a 64.4 per cent win record from 146 games in charge, winning 94, drawing 29 and losing just 23.
His Feyenoord team have scored 329 goals, an average of 2.2 per match, conceding 147 in return. Slot's points per game is a hugely impressive 2.13.
Feyenoord are, though, set to relinquish their Eredivisie crown, as they trail leaders PSV by nine points. They have, however, won the KNVB Cup this term.
As there is no break clause in the Dutchman's contract, it has been reported that a compensation fee in the region of €10million (£8.5m) could prise him away from Feyenoord.
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim is another coach who has been heavily linked with the Liverpool job, albeit he is reportedly in talks with West Ham.
Mikel Arteta salutes ‘unbelievable’ Kai Havertz after another impressive display
Mikel Arteta hailed an “unbelievable” performance from Kai Havertz after his two goals helped Arsenal move three points clear at the top of the Premier League with a thumping 5-0 win over Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium.
The 24-year-old, who struggled in his early appearances after swapping Stamford Bridge for north London in the summer, gave a superb display against his former side as the leaders heaped more misery on visiting manager Mauricio Pochettino, who saw his ninth-place team slump to a worst-ever league defeat against Arsenal.
Havertz struck twice as part of an 18-minute blitz in the second half as Arteta’s team won for the second time in four days, continuing their recovery from successive losses to Aston Villa and Bayern Munich.
“He (Havertz) was unbelievable, in all departments,” said Arteta.
“For a nine to score two goals the way he scored, his contribution was great. It’s a question for him but I’m sure he’s very pleased.”
The Arsenal onslaught began after only four minutes, Declan Rice sliding the ball into a channel on the left of the penalty area from where Leandro Trossard took over, dinking past defender Alfie Gilchrist, on his first Premier League start, and thudding it through the legs of Djordje Petrovic.
Thereafter Chelsea competed gamely, going close to equalising when Axel Disasi just failed to reach a flick-on from a corner and again when Nicolas Jackson’s effort was deflected onto the post by Gabriel, but in the space of under 20 minutes after the interval they fell to pieces.
First, Ben White reacted quickest to sweep home after Rice’s shot was blocked, then Havertz got his first of the night with a lofted finish over the goalkeeper.
The former Chelsea forward made it 4-0, his shot pinging in off the post with Petrovic rooted, before White provided the moment of the match with a cross-shot that sailed across the face of goal and in from Martin Odegaard’s pass.
“It was a big performance, collectively and individually,” said Arteta, whose side moved clear at the top ahead of Sunday’s derby against Tottenham but have played a game more than Liverpool and two more than Manchester City.
“I thought we were really good, against a really good team that was in great form and were going to ask us a lot of questions. I think we responded really well.
“From the start we were really determined, really flowing, playing with a lot of courage and making things happen. Really happy with the result. It’s a big day for our supporters.
“It’s great for us, for the confidence and for the belief that we can do it, we can come to these stages against big teams and win games the way we’ve done it tonight. So enjoy it, then it’s back to work tomorrow because we have a big one on Sunday.”
Chelsea boss Pochettino, for whom Arteta admitted to have “all the sympathy in the world,” gave a downcast assessment of his team’s prospects of qualifying for Europe after a humbling loss.
“Now it is difficult to see the future because after this game we feel disappointed,” he said. “It is difficult to talk about objectives.
“If we compete like Saturday (in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to City), OK. But if we compete like today, I think we deserve to go into Europe? I think in this way, no.”
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