The most expensive loan player in history, Chelsea signed Felix really "better to rent than to buy"?

Reporter Han Bing reported that the loan era 2.0 - 11 million euros, half a year on loan, Chelsea's introduction of Felix in the transaction set a record in the history of loan, and pushed the "sky-high loan" trading model to the cusp. In particular, Xiaofei's Premier League debut left the game straight, which put a big question mark on this deal.

Chelsea's American boss Boli did not buy Enzo in the winter window, missing out on a new Chelsea and Premier League transfer fee record of €120 million. But the Blues' €11 million half-season loan from Atletico Felix has set a world record for loan. The cost of Chelsea investing in Portugal's rising star for half a year is even more cost-sharing than the transfer fee sharing cost of Atletico's purchase of him in the summer of 2019! Felix signed a seven-year contract with Atletico Madrid that year, with a transfer fee of 126 million euros, with an average of 18 million euros per season. Chelsea only paid 11 million on loan for half a season, which translates into a full season and costs 22 million euros! Atletico made a short-term good business with a net profit of 2 million euros in half a season, but for Chelsea, who was "in a hurry", it was expensive "better to rent than to buy".

Felix's loan not only set a new record for loan fees in Chelsea and Premier League history, but also surpassed Higuain, Lo Celso, Morata and other loan players in the same period, becoming the most expensive loan deal in the history of world football. The loan price exceeds the share of the player's transfer fee, which is also very rare in world football. Four years ago, Felix could sell for a whopping 126 million euros after playing just one full season in Benfica, and four years later Atletico did not suffer a loss from changing hands.

【The most expensive rental, worthy of the name】

Felix was not originally Chelsea's first choice for the winter window, with Manchester United and Arsenal being the main suitors. But Atletico's half-season offer of €13 million, plus a buyout clause starting at €100 million at the end of the season, scared off both. In the urgent situation of consecutive defeats, Chelsea boss Boly came out on top and led the neck to "slaughter". However, Chelsea gave up the buyout and only spent half a season on loan, and Atletico also made concessions on loan fees, and the most expensive loan deal in history was born.

On the face of it, Felix's €11 million is only 11th in the world football loan rankings. But his loan period is only half a season and less than half a year, which equates to 1.93 million euros per month, surpassing Higuain, who previously finished at the top of the table. Argentina's "little smoking gun" was loaned to AC Milan by Juventus in the summer of 2018 for 10.2 million euros in half a season, equivalent to 1.78 million euros per month, and was overtaken by Felix.

If ranked by the total loan fee, Spanish center Morata is in the top two for the amount of two loans. In the summer of 2020, he signed Juventus on loan from Atletico Madrid for two seasons for 20 million euros; Previously, he moved to Atletico Madrid from Chelsea on loan at the beginning of 2019 for a whopping €18 million. However, because the two loan periods exceeded one season, the average monthly rent was only around 1 million euros, almost half that of Felix.

Lo Celso, who moved to Tottenham on loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2019, holds the previous Premier League loan record. The Argentine midfielder spent one season on loan and rented 16 million euros, ranking third in history, but only 1.45 million euros per month, also behind Felix. The most expensive loan in Premier League history was Manchester United's loan of Argentine goalscorer Tevez from West Ham United in the summer of 2007 for £10 million (€12.7 million). Of course, Tevez's rent is spread over two seasons and is only 550,000 euros a month, with Felix 3.5 times his own. Other high-priced loan players with loan fees of more than 10 million euros, such as Zapata, Ronaldo, Chiesa Jr., Barrera, Ighalo and Destro, although the total amount exceeds Felix, can be apportioned each month and far from Felix.

Atletico have brought in players on loan twice in recent years, spending 18 million euros on Morata for one and a half years and 20 million euros on Griezmann for two seasons. However, compared to Felix, the monthly cost of both is almost half of Felix's. At the beginning, Chelsea, under the operation of the "iron lady" Granovskaya, loaned Morata to Atletico at a high price, and the buyout fee made Atletico pay a total of 53 million euros. Atletico bought out and then leased 20 million euros to Juventus, recovering almost 40% of the cost. This time, Atletico's "for tat" gave Chelsea a bitter taste of high-priced loans.

【There is also a "Boli price" for rent】

After Abramovich bought Chelsea 20 years ago, he once caused the European football market to produce an inflated "Chelsea price" because of his generous purchase. Now that the Blue Bridge has changed owners, the new owner of the United States, Boley, has not escaped the sky-high asking price of the European ball market. Last summer, Chelsea had been slaughtered by the "Boly price", with centre-back W. Fofana and full-back Cucurella all bought at a double premium, and newcomers like Chukumeka were bought at a triple premium. Juve back-and-back Zakaria on loan in the summer is reasonably priced, €3 million for one season, but Felix's half-season €11 million is a typical high-premium trade.

Felix is currently worth just €50 million and Portugal's rookie signed a one-year contract extension with Atletico before signing out on Bridge Bluebridge. Even now, a five-season contract is worth only 10 million euros per season. In order to improve their attacking power as soon as possible, Chelsea can only accept the cost of doubling the market value of the player, including Felix's pre-tax salary of 7 million euros for half a season, and the Blues have burned a total of 18 million euros on Felix in the actual season of only four and a half months. That means Felix needs Chelsea to pay at least €4 million a month, not counting other uncertain expenses such as bonuses.

Ironically, Felix was sent off with a straight red card for a malicious tackle on his debut and will be suspended for three games in the future, leaving Chelsea's per-game loan costs to continue to rise. Chelsea had already loaned midfielder Saou from Atletico last season, but it was only €5 million in one season, and the buyout clause was not activated in the end, which made Atletico very unhappy. Chelsea had previously bought Diego Costa from the Blues for €38 million, and three years later took advantage of Simeone's obsession with Costa to sell the in-form Brazilian for €60 million. Unfortunately, such an excellent market operation came from the handiwork of Granovskaya, but now the complete layman American boss Boly is manipulating the Blues' transfer, and the results can be imagined.

Felix's high premium leasing has pushed the high price leasing that has been rising in recent years to unprecedented heights. Of the 14 deals with loan fees of more than 10 million euros, only one was 16 years ago and 12 occurred in the last five years. Nine of these cases occurred in the last three years. Moreover, it is gradually tilted towards the Premier League, which has the strongest financial resources. At the beginning of last year there was Kulushevsky, and this year there was Felix, which is more outrageously priced. If Chelsea buy Felix directly, the cost sharing may not exceed this loan, which is really "better to rent than to buy".