Chelsea forward Joao Felix has completed a loan move to AC Milan until the end of the season.
The Italian side have paid a £5m loan fee for Felix, with no obligation to buy the 25-year-old Portugal international in the summer.
Though the deal was only announced on Tuesday, the required paperwork was submitted in advance of Monday’s Serie A and Premier League transfer deadline.
Felix signed a seven-year contract when he moved to Chelsea on a £45m permanent deal in August, having had a loan spell at Stamford Bridge during the second half of the 2022-23 season.
The Felix deal came about in unusual circumstances as Chelsea and Atletico Madrid exchanged players, with academy graduate Conor Gallagher going to Spain for £33m.
Chelsea’s talks to sign Atletico striker Samu Omorodion collapsed, with the Felix deal seemingly a replacement to enable Atletico to find the required funds to complete the Gallagher transfer.
Gallagher had entered the final year of his contract at Stamford Bridge so Chelsea wanted to sell to generate profit and avoid losing him on a free transfer in the summer of 2025.
However, Felix has only started three Premier League matches this campaign, though regularly featured in cup competitions, scoring seven goals.
The forward began his career at Benfica and moved for £113m to Atletico Madrid in July 2019, a deal which at the time was the fifth-most expensive transfer in history.
He spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Barcelona before his move back to Stamford Bridge last summer.
Milan, eighth in Serie A, play Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and have a two-legged play-off against Feyenoord in the Champions League this month.
