Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca snubbed one star in the 0-0 draw with Everton (Image: Getty)
As stuttered to a goalless draw against on Sunday, the sight of Joao Felix covered up in a windbreaker coat in the final minutes of the game was curious enough.
The Blues needed a goal, some inspiration and a flicker of magic. It often falls upon to produce it, but the 22-year-old can’t be burdened with that responsibility every time.
named nine substitutes that cost a combined £184million of players – and that’s including two youth graduates from their famed Cobham academy, Tyrique George and Josh Acheampong.
Yet he brought only two of those players off the bench in an attempt to snatch all three points.
Noni Madueke and Christopher Nkunku were summoned on 76 minutes to replace and Nicolas Jackson. He had ample opportunities to make more changes, but didn’t.
That meant Joao Felix, Cesare Casadei, Renato Veiga and – who scored a hat-trick against Shamrock Rovers only four days ago – went unused on a damp day on Merseyside.
And for Felix, a £42m signing from Atletico Madrid, it offered another bleak potential outlook for what his future could look like under Maresca at Stamford Bridge.
Back in August, icon Jamie Carragher was left dumbfounded by ‘s decision to spend big on the Portugal international and questioned where he would fit into their bloated squad.
Joao Felix was left as an unused substitute during Chelsea’s draw with Everton (Image: Getty)
“You have bought Joao Felix, right? Tell me where he is going to play,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“They signed Neto a week ago. Where is he going to play when you have already got ? Where would you play Enzo Fernandez (if Felix, Neto and Palmer played together)? Where would you play Nkunku?”
These are the questions Maresca has been faced with every week, and the solution arrived in the form of the UEFA Conference League.
Felix has been gifted a run at the No 10 role with Palmer not in the squad for the six-fixture league phase and there, the 25-year-old has impressed.
Cole Palmer was unable to provide the spark for Chelsea (Image: Getty)
He racked up four goals in five appearances in the competition, as well as creating countless chances for his team-mates. Felix’s performances both in Europe and the Carabao Cup made it harder for Maresca to ignore the calls to play him.
And for a brief moment, it looked as if the Italian had found the perfect plan to fit Felix and Palmer together into the same team.
The pair started together in the 5-1 thrashing of Southampton, with Palmer scoring once and Felix grabbing an assist on his first start under the Italian boss. It was an ominous performance from a team looking more like title contenders with every week.
Felix’s progress was halted when he was forced to miss the 2-1 win over Brentford through illness and was left behind for the gruelling trip to Kazakhstan, where beat Astana 3-1. But since then, he has recovered and is available for selection.
Enzo Maresca has largely used Joao Felix as a substitute (Image: Getty)
Palmer was having a rare off day, Neto couldn’t make an impact and Nicolas Jackson missed a couple of gilt-edged chances up front.
Some would ask, then, why Maresca didn’t turn to the attacker for a creative spark when his team so desperately needed it against Everton.
There’s no question Felix would’ve been asking that question himself as missed the chance to put some pressure on at the top. It might be a topic the sporting directors pose themselves, given they made a significant effort to sign him on deadline day.
But receiving the cold shoulder from his boss suggests Carragher may have been right all along – Felix could be the unlucky man left out as Maresca plays his balancing act at Stamford Bridge.