Zlatan Ibrahimovic rubs salt into Monchi's wounds as he reveals transfer 'took five minutes'
Aston Villa transfer chief Monchi failed in attempts to sign Joao Felix before his move from Chelsea to AC Milan in the January transfer window
Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims it took AC Milan just five minutes to seal a transfer deal with Chelsea for Joao Felix, as Aston Villa missed out on the Portuguese forward once again.
Villa boss Unai Emery is a big fan of Felix, but transfer chief Monchi has failed in attempts to sign him in the last two transfer windows as he left Atletico Madrid for Chelsea for £45m last summer and then departed Stamford Bridge for Milan on loan before the end of the January transfer window.
Speaking about the deal that took Felix to the San Siro, Ibrahimovic, a senior advisor at the Italian club, said: “It took just five minutes to get the Joao Felix loan deal done with Chelsea.
“Conceicao (Milan manager Sergio Conceicao) wanted Joao, we spoke and we decided to trust him for our project. It’s been a very fast negotiation.”
Felix made a great start to life at AC, scoring on his debut in a 3-1 win against Roma in the Coppa Italia, before being officially unveiled at a press conference on Monday.
Ibrahimovic added: "Welcome to Joao Felix, a huge talent with experience in Spain, England and with the Portuguese national team.
“We were looking for a player who was capable of playing in midfield and up front, someone who could prove the difference in difficult matches and unlock them. He has shown that he is a top quality player.
“We are satisfied and we need to get him in the best condition possible. We have tried to give the coach more options, you need to when you're playing every three days. The options are there, the forwards can play together, provided that they defend.”