The experience of former Barcelona players Joao Félix and Marc Guiu under Chelsea in the Premier League is turning out to be a total fiasco.
The Portuguese star wanted to stay at Barça. Atlético de Madrid, which owns his rights, ruled out a new loan and sold him to Chelsea, though.
Guiu, on the other hand, was impatient. He believed that he wouldn't have any opportunities at Barça and he packed his bags to leave for Chelsea.
The experience for both is proving disappointing. They aren't being considered at all in blue coach Enzo Maresca's plans.
João Félix is Worthless at Chelsea
The Portuguese hasn't been a starter in the Premier League and didn't play a single minute against Liverpool at Anfield. He lives in the shadow of Cole Palmer at Chelsea.
During the last matchday of the Premier League, Chelsea played at Liverpool and João Félix watched from the bench. For Maresca, he's no longer useful, even for rotations.
Cole Palmer plays in his position. But João Félix also has Nicolas Jackson, Noni Madueke and Jadon Sancho, Pedro Neto and Christopher Nkunku ahead of him.
João Félix has only been a starter at Carabao Cup and Conference League, lower-ranking competitions in which Cole Palmer hasn't even been registered.
The Portuguese footballer has only played 283 minutes throughout the first seven games of the season. Out of those, only 117, little more than one game, were in the Premier League.
He has played those 117 minutes coming off the bench five times. He didn't play in two other games.
If it was surprising that Chelsea paid 52 million for him last summer. It's even more surprising that the blue coach doesn't count on him at all. This explains why his market value has gone from 100 million to just 30.
And Marc Guiu is not doing any better either. Chelsea paid 6 million euros for him—his release clause—and he has only played a few minutes in the Premier League. It was during the first match against Manchester City.
Marc Guiu Regrets His Decision
Guiu went to London excited because he was promised to be part of the first team. What they didn't tell him was that he would be at the back of the line and that the coach wouldn't count on him for anything.
Now he regrets having taken the step, knowing that he could have been the alternative to Lewandowski in the Barça first team.
Laporta leaves the decision of a possible return in the hands of Deco and Flick, although he isn't in favor of re-hiring Guiu. He recently said on Barça One: “A player who wants to leave Barça may do so at any time. Let's see what he finds because there's no place like Barça.”
And Flick doesn't count on Guiu either. He doesn't need him and he wouldn't improve the level of Lewandowski, Ferran Torres or Pau Victor. His time has passed.
João Félix is also of no interest, as Jorge Mendes has also offered Laporta a contract without success. In this case, it was not he who asked to leave, but he no longer has a place in Flick's Barça.
Joao Félix and Marc Guiu's Statistics at Chelsea
João Félix
5 Premier League games: 1 goal, 1 assist, 117 minutes over 8 games.
Marc Guiu
23 minutes over 8 Premier League matches
10 minutes over 1 Conference League match
A very poor balance for both, confirming that switching from Barça to Chelsea could destroy their careers.