Joao Felix avoids the cursed number nine shirt at Chelsea

Joao Felix has avoided Chelsea's cursed number nine shirt but hasn't been given his prefered squad number, as his loan move was confirmed.

After weeks of speculation about a potential move to either Manchester United or Arsenal, Felix has finally moved to Chelsea until the end of the season.

The Blues are in serious need of some goals and will be hoping that the highly rated Portugal star, who impressed at the World Cup, could be the answer.

One thing they'll certainly be hoping to avoid is him flopping like summer signings such as Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who haven't lived up to their reputations so far.

In fairness to Aubameyang, it's not completely his fault that he hasn't worked out, joining from Barcelona to reunite with former Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel, only to see the German sacked soon after.

Not only that but he was also handed the cursed number nine squad number, something that many of Stamford Bridge's most recent stars have failed with.

Giving the forward the squad number in the summer means that Felix has avoided it and he also can't wear number seven, as he does at Atletico Madrid, because of N'Golo Kante.

Instead the club have confirmed that he will wear the number 11 shirt, which he also wore for Portugal in Qatar last month, which was vacated by Timo Werner when he departed in the summer.

Felix has arrived at Chelsea. Image: Chelsea FC

However, there's a good chance that he wouldn't have actually wanted the number 11 on the back of his shirt, because he's revealed before it's not his favourite.

The former Benfica youngster arrived in Spain in 2019, for a fee of €126 million, which makes him still the fourth most expensive transfer of all time.

He soon found out that he wasn't allowed his favoured number 79, saying, "I wanted the number 79, but they didn't let me. Then I wanted the number 10, but that was already taken, so I ended up with number 7."

La Liga rules means he wasn't allowed to wear the number, with players in the 25 registered slots having to wear numbers between 1 and 25, with goalkeepers wearing 1, 13 and 25.

The Premier League has no such rules so technically he could have worn it but instead he's gone for 11, meaning it's his fourth choice number.

Felix wore 79 for Benfica. Image: Alamy

On his new signing, Chelsea boss Graham Potter said, "He is a quality player, and he will make a difference in the final third. He is young, but has lots of experience. The signing gives everybody a lift.

"He is a good age and he can play as a second striker between the lines and in the final third. We are looking forward to working with him."

There is no option, or obligation, for the west London side to make the move permanent in the summer and he is likely to return to the Wanda Metropolitano.

Felix has actually extended his deal at Atleti, ahead of the loan move, and there is speculation that Diego Simeone will leave the club at the end of the season instead.