The red card Joao Felix picked up during Chelsea's 2-1 loss to Fulham won't just cost the Blues on the pitch, it'll also effectively cost them millions of pounds off of it.
Indeed, Chelsea paid Atletico Madrid £9 million to sign Joao Felix on loan for six months, while also covering the entirety of his reported £250,000 a week wages. Equating to over £6 million for the period Chelsea have him, that's a hefty price for a player who is set to miss the next three games after being sent off on their debut.
Initially, Felix looked the bright spark in an otherwise dysfunctional Chelsea side. The Portuguese forward created chances and attacked with intent, showing encouraging signs for a player new to the Premier League.
However, in the 58th minute, Felix recklessly lunged in on Fulham right-back Kenny Tete after overrunning the ball, with the referee subsequently giving him his marching orders.
As a result, Felix is set to miss the next three games, and, with Chelsea already knocked out of the FA Cup, that means he won't return until the time they play West Ham in a month's time, on February 11.
Four weeks of Felix sitting in the stands will cost Chelsea £1 million in wages of unused talent alone, while he will cost the club £1.8 million for missing three games in the context of his loan fee. Consequently, Felix's red card works out as costing Chelsea £2.8 million, and that is before his missing presence on the pitch is factored in.
Originally, Chelsea signed Felix with 21 Premier League games remaining, meaning each game was worth £428,500 of his £9 million loan fee. The sending off ensures he is available for a maximum of just 17 matches now.
The total, therefore, of each game is now costing the club a total outlay of £500,000, just to have Felix within the squad (and without considering his wages).
With Chelsea out of the domestic cup competitions, too, there are fewer chances to pay the club back.
However, he is available for Champions League fixtures, meaning he will have the opportunity to play in the last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund and any future games should the Blues progress.
