Joao Felix to Aston Villa latest: Chelsea discussions, Unai Emery verdict and £65m truth

Jhon Duran’s imminent big-money departure for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr has paved the way for Aston Villa to swoop for Joao Felix.

Villa were insistent for much of January that Duran wasn’t for sale but the decision was finally made on Wednesday (January 29) that a departure was in the best interests of the club, the team and the player. With a guaranteed fee of €77 million (£64.4m) plus add-ons agreed, Villa will make a profit of at least £46.7 million.

Unai Emery hinted to the media after the 4-2 win over Celtic in the Champions League that a Duran replacement will be signed before the end of the winter transfer window. “The club is working, we have to be intelligent and competitive,” Emery admitted.

“Our objective here for us is to keep our structure intelligently because we want to keep the level we are, to keep it for a long time is the most difficult challenge we have. Sometimes we have to sell some players but as well we try to replace them with good players and try to develop them here,” the head coach crucially added.

Talks ongoing with Chelsea

Birmingham World understands Emery has already lined up Felix as the priority target to fill the void soon to be left by Duran. Discussions are believed to have been underway since the start of this week, with the loan arrival of Axel Disasi spoken about as well as Felix’s availability.

Chelsea have been rather ambiguous about Felix, however, with no clear indication made to Villa as of yet. Ongoing speculation over a potential departure for Christopher Nkunku and the possible signings of Mathys Tel and Alejandro Garnacho could be complicating matters.

Nonetheless, Villa remain in daily contact with Chelsea as they seek to complete a deal before the February 3 deadline. It’s certainly one to watch.

Unai Emery’s verdict on Joao Felix

Felix is a different profile of player to Duran but that’s not seen internally at Villa as a negative thing. Emery’s verdict is it was difficult to manage two elite centre-forwards anyway, so having someone like Felix happy to play just off the striker instead is ideal.

Donyell Malen, signed from Borussia Dortmund for around £23 million, could play that role too, while Morgan Rogers showed the world just how well he can do in that position as he netted a hat-trick against Celtic. Competition and rotation is necessary for success in all competitions, though, and Felix joining wouldn’t stop Malen and Rogers from playing – it would just mean playing on the flanks instead.