Joao Felix ‘to regret Aston Villa snub’ after AC Milan development
Joao Felix opted to join AC Milan during the winter rather than agreeing a switch to Aston Villa.
Unai Emery has had a long-standing interest in the Portugal international who decided to join Chelsea on a permanent deal in the summer.
After a failed spell at Stamford Bridge, the 25-year-old moved to the San Siro on a temporary move until the end of the campaign.
It now appears that Felix will be full of regret after what happened at AC Milan on Tuesday night (18 February).
Aston Villa-linked Joao Felix and AC Milan knocked out of Champions League
The Villans have had an excellent campaign in the Champions League, securing a top-eight finish with a 4-2 win against Celtic at Villa Park.
This meant the B6 club missed out on a dreaded playoff and earned instant progression to the round of 16 stage of the tournament.
The same can’t be said for the Rossoneri who played Feyenoord after finishing 13th in the league phase of Europe’s elite competition.
The Eredivisie outfit have now dumped the Italian giants out with a 2-1 aggregate win, leaving Felix without Champions League football.
Reacting to this after the game, the Chelsea loanee said: “I wanted so much to play in the Champions League for Milan, but I only got to experience two games.”
Given that Emery’s side are still in the competition, surely the Portuguese regrets his decision to move to Serie A during the winter window.
Joao Felix must regret Aston Villa snub
Villa eventually signed Marcus Rashford from Manchester United and Marco Asensio from PSG on loan to add forward depth to their squad.
Things could have been so different if the former Atletico Madrid star had accepted an approach from the West Midlands outfit.
There is no doubt that Felix would have become a key player for the Villans, likely in a role alongside Ollie Watkins up top in B6.
This would have allowed the ex-Benfica ace to feature in the Champions League round of 16 but instead, he has been dumped out at the playoff stage.
It is clear that this is devastating to the attacker who now appears to have little chance of silverware or any sort of positivity in his campaign.
There is every reason to believe he would have thrived under Emery but it now feels unlikely that we will ever see Felix in claret and blue.