Chelsea: Maresca reveals ‘reason’ for re-signing Felix; confirms two banished players are ‘training apart’

Head coach Enzo Maresca has revealed Chelsea’s “reason” for re-signing Joao Felix after his initial £42m move from Atletico Madrid was confirmed.

On Wednesday morning, it was announced that Chelsea academy product Conor Gallagher has left the Premier League giants to join Atletico Madrid for around £35m. 

After paying an initial £64m to sign Julian Alvarez from Manchester City earlier this summer, Atletico Madrid needed to sell a player before they could sign Gallagher and Felix’s return to Chelsea made the prior deal possible.

The Blues initially targeted 20-year-old Samu Omorodion but they turned their attention to re-signing Felix after their their deal for the inexperienced forward fell through.

Felix’s return to Chelsea was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, with journalist Ben Jacobs claiming he’s penned a six-year contract.

The Portugal international insists this move allows him to “find a home” as he “needed to stay permanently in one place”.

“I’m really happy to be back at Chelsea and I can’t wait to get started. I can see some familiar faces from the last time I was here, which is always nice,” Felix said in an interview for Chelsea’s official website.

“I loved my time here before and I told my friends and family that I’d love to return to the Premier League one day. To do that with Chelsea is a great feeling and I’m excited to be back.”

READ: Joao Felix is the most laughable of all Chelsea signings

Felix added: “It’s a chance for me to find a home.

“After two loans, Chelsea and Barca, I needed to stay permanently in one place. There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea. I see a perfect place to shine.

“It was a little bit of a lot of things that made me want to come back: the project, the club, the league, the fans, the time I spent here that I loved. I felt really good when I was here, despite the results we had. I’m really happy to be back.”

Maresca meanwhile has revealed “the reason” why Chelsea opted to sing Felix permanently.

“He’s a good player and a talent”,” Maresca said.

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“The club knows him from two years ago. He can play in different positions, inside, as a nine or outside. This is the reason why we signed him.”

Maresca has also confirmed that Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell are “training apart” from the first team.

“They are training apart. The situation with both of them is quite clear. We have a big squad and it’s impossible to give all of them minutes. If they are looking for minutes it’s better for them to leave,” Maresca added.

“I try to be honest. I spoke with Raheem before the Manchester City game. I said he will struggle to get minutes with us and this was the reason why he was out.

“And with Chilly, he’s lovely guy, but I said he is going to struggle with his position. It’s not brutal, it’s just honest.”