Chelsea could accept £125m pair in summer swap deal as ‘transfer plans drawn up’

Loaned-out forward Joao Felix made the perfect start to life at by coming off the bench to score in their Coppa Italia quarter-final win against on Wednesday night.

And the Portuguese has made such an impression in his first week at the San Siro, club chiefs are drawing up plans to secure him for the long-term. The current loan agreement netted a fee and does not include a buy option.

But with manager Sergio Conceicao believed to be keen on forging a centre-forward partnership between Felix and fellow January recruit Santiago Gimenez, the Blues and Milan are on course to hold permanent discussions this summer.

According to , management figures at the San Siro are ‘already studying formulas to present to ‘. It may be a stretch for them to fork out the it took to sign Felix from Atletico Madrid last summer.

But there are believed to be other options on the table. Among those discussed is another pricey season-long loan for the 2025/26 campaign, while other reports cite the possibility of Milan offering players in part-exchange.

state that Fikayo Tomori returning to , where he previously spent 16 years on the books, ‘cannot be ruled out’. They also add that the London club have a long-standing ‘appreciation’ for fellow Rossoneri star Rafael Leao.

Neither player would come cheap, with a combined value of approximately £125m (Tomori and Leao ). A prospective swap deal involving Tomori would therefore involve a huge reduction in Felix’s price tag, and one involving Leao would likely see millions paid to Milan on top of Felix switching places with his international team-mate.

tied Felix down to a lucrative seven-year contract upon signing him from Atletico just over five months ago. But manager primarily used him in cup competitions, with laying claim to the No. 10 role in the Premier League.

Maresca explained his decision to sanction Felix’s exit during a press conference on Friday. “Nothing happened [between us],” said the Italian. “Players want to play all of the games but unfortunately they can’t all play.

“He never complained. He was professional. I said many times, we need defensive balance and when you have so many attacking players, you can concede transitions and I don’t like that.”