Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca went brutal on his on-loan player Joao Felix, who left the club to AC Milan in the January transfer window, MySportDab reports.
The Italian tactician, speaking after his side crashed out of the FA Cup following a 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the Falmer Stadium, said the club does not miss the Portuguese midfielder.
“We don’t miss him. He is happy where he is and we are happy where we are,” he said in the post-match interview.
Joao Felix left Chelsea in the final hours of the January transfer window to AC Milan on a short-term loan till the end of the season.
His transfer exit wasn’t a surprise after he struggled for regular game time in the Chelsea setup under Maresca.
He was used mostly in peripheral competitions and could only manage just three starts for the Blues in the Premier League.
His Chelsea travails came out more as a travesty of some sort after he completed a £46million move to the club from Atletico Madrid recently in the summer.
It was his second spell with the London side after his loan stint in the 2022-23 season.
While Maresca’s comment is clearly not the best farewell shot at a departing player, it is understood the former Leicester City boss had long cleared the air on Felix’s place in his team.
According to him, the Portuguese remains a top and elite talent suitable for his project at Chelsea but the problem was that he couldn’t play him alongside Cole Palmer who remains his best choice for attacking midfield role.
In other words, Felix’s struggle for game time was due to his (Maresca’s) tactical preferences, not the player’s quality.
Meanwhile, away from his Chelsea quagmire, Joao Felix seemed to have instantly settled in Milan. He scored on his debut, helping the club to a 3-1 win over Roma in Serie A at the weekend.
