Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is willing to stump up the £18m fee required to keep Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix on loan for another season, according to The Sun.

The Portuguese international has had a somewhat disappointing spell at Stamford Bridge since arriving in January, but he is keen on staying in London, as long as he gets guarantees about first-team football.

Atletico would demand €100m (£88m) to sell the player outright so the Blues would be more interested in a second successive loan, paying a smaller fee on top of Felix’s £250,000 a week salary.

Of course, any fresh deal won’t be rubberstamped until Chelsea have a new permanent manager in place. At this stage, Mauricio Pochettino is the favourite to be appointed, although an agreement with the ex-Spurs boss has yet to be reached.

It is questionable whether Felix would fit into the Argentinian’s style of play so, while the London club are seemingly prepared to keep him, there is no certainty that a transfer will go ahead at this stage.