Manchester United hero Gary Neville has heaped praise on Chelsea star Joao Felix and believes the Portuguese star is “real class”, hinting at his approval for Erik ten Hag to sign the attacker if he becomes available this summer. The Portuguese arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid in an expensive January loan deal to help boost the Blues’ top-four hopes but he has been frozen out recently under Frank Lampard, and Neville’s comments suggest he would enjoy seeing Felix in a red shirt.
Felix has largely flattered to deceive for the majority of his short stint at Stamford Bridge, managing only four goals in his 15 appearances for the west London club despite costing a hefty £9.7m fee to sign on loan from the La Liga outfit.
However, the 23-year-old produced an impressive cameo when he came off the bench against United in the second half at Old Trafford on Thursday and capped the performance with a superb solo strike.
Felix ran the best part of 40 yards with the ball as United backed off and he found the bottom corner with a composed finish from the edge of the penalty area. And Neville took note of Felix’s display, waxing lyrical about the youngster’s ability on the ball.
“He’s a proper player, him,” Neville said of Felix on Sky Sports, speaking after the goal. “Just the way he moves with the ball looks so different, so in control. Class – real class.
“He’s got options in front of him but he thinks ‘no, I’m going to go on my own’, and he just fires it past David de Gea. Really good finish.”
It proved to be nothing more than a consolation in the end as United tore apart their dismal opponents with a 4-1 victory, with Casemiro, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and a Bruno Fernandes penalty putting Chelsea to the sword. But Felix’s performance gave the Chelsea fans something to celebrate as they sarcastically chanted “We’ve scored a goal” in the away end.
He could have easily been playing in red as United were one of the clubs to turn down the chance to sign Felix, having been offered his services by agent Jorge Mendes in January.
The door remains ajar for Felix to move elsewhere as Chelsea do not have an option make the loan deal permanent – and Neville thinks they could live to regret their mistake.
“They’ve signed everybody but the one player they need an option on [to buy], they haven’t got,” he added.
It appears unlikely that Felix would snub Chelsea to join another Premier League club, though, after he expressed his desire to remain with the London club.
“I don’t know yet my future. But these four, five months, I loved it,” Felix said. “It’s a top club, everyone in the club was very good to me. My team-mates [are] unbelievable. I really like to be here.”
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