Chelsea loanee Joao Felix is reportedly being isolated by his AC Milan teammates on the field.
Felix has had a difficult first month on loan in Italy and was even called a “disaster” after Milan’s 2-1 loss to Bologna.
Felix played 61 minutes in his team’s 2-1 defeat to Torino on Saturday before being substituted.
Italian media outlet Corriere della Sera described the Portuguese forward as “the worst player on the pitch” after Milan’s second defeat in a row.
Felix joined Milan on loan from Chelsea during the January transfer window deadline day.
His performance has been largely poor since he scored a skillful goal within the first 12 minutes of his debut for the club.
Despite being a player who once cost £113million when he moved from Benfica to Atletico Madrid, he has not scored or assisted in his five subsequent appearances, even though he started every game.
Criticism intensified after his subpar performance against Bologna.
Corriere della Sera stated: “He is invisible and silent. He makes no impact, and even his teammates avoid passing to him.”
This result leaves Milan in seventh place in the league, eight points away from the top four.
Felix’s loan move happened despite him only joining Chelsea permanently in the summer, signing a contract until 2031.
Just five months prior, Chelsea paid £45m to sign him from Atletico Madrid.
With Milan struggling to qualify for European competitions, Italian journalist Fabio Ravezzani criticized Felix on social media.
Ravezzani posted on X: “Everything is going wrong at Milan.
“Joao Felix is as handsome as he is useless, Malick Thiaw is no better than Fikayo Tomori, and substituting Rafael Leao, unless injured, is foolish.”
Manager Sergio Conceicao has won eight out of 15 games in charge across all competitions.
However, he couldn’t keep Milan in the Champions League the previous week.
The seven-time champions were eliminated by Feyenoord, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Arne Slot’s former Dutch team.
Unless something changes, Felix is expected to return to Chelsea in the summer.
Marcus Bellamy