Joao Felix’s red card sees Chelsea ‘lose’ around £2m as he begins three-game ban
Joao Felix's red card last night is set to cost Chelsea around £2m, it's been revealed.
The Portugal international kicked his Premier League career off in the worst possible manner after receiving a straight red for a high-studs challenge on Fulham's Kenny Tete during the Blues' dismal 2-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.
Chelsea paid a hefty £9m to land Felix on loan and are also covering the 23-year-old's £250,000-a-week wages in full, which means his imminent absence will see them lose a large chunk of potential return on their investment.
READ MORE: Joao Felix sent off on Chelsea debut for horror two-footed lunge vs Fulham
If you assume that the furthest the Blues will go in the Champions League is the quarter-final stage, it means they brought Felix in with a maximum of 25 matches remaining in the season.
Considering the loan fee, each game is costing Chelsea around £300,000, which means Felix's three match ban will see them lose £900,000. And given that the Atletico Madrid forward won't be available again until February 11, the Blues are effectively handing him a month's wages – amounting to roughly £1m – for absolutely nothing.
It was a Jekyll and Hyde sort of debut for Felix in many ways. His sending off, which arguably cost Graham Potter's side the game, is all people will remember. And rightly so. But he was arguably Chelsea's brightest player prior to the dismissal after showcasing plenty creativity and incisiveness in the final third – things the Blues have been desperately short of all season.
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Fulham took the lead mid-way through the first half through former Chelsea star Willian – who refused to celebrate – after his low drive swept past a helpless Kepa Arrizabalaga after deflecting off Trevoh Chalobah's outstretched leg.
Kalidou Koulibaly drew the Blues level just two minutes after the restart by poking home from a Mason Mount set-piece, but Felix's red card a few minutes later stopped hopes of a comeback dead in their tracks.
With a quarter-of-an-hour to go ex-Tottenham man Carlos Vinicius put Fulham back in front, heading into an empty net after Arrizabalaga completely misjudged Andreas Pereira's cross. The win sees Marco Silva's men close the gap on fourth-place Manchester United to just four points, while Chelsea remain in 10th.
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