There’s nothing quite like some vast Saudi generosity to send you skipping around a potential breach of spending rules and into the transfer market.

Chelsea will indeed be smiling all the way to the bank after banking a whopping £43.7 million for Joao Felix, the Portuguese forward who’s been rather unimpressive and is now joining Al Nassr.

Let’s take a look back at the 25-year-old’s journey during his two periods at Stamford Bridge. First arriving on a six-month loan in January 2023, Felix was sent off just an hour into his debut match against Fulham and went on to score only four goals in 20 games.

Felix’s glittering seven-year deal quickly lost its sheen within six months when he became unwelcome and was loaned out to AC Milan. He started just nine matches for Chelsea then, with only three of those being in the Premier League.

His goal during the 6-2 victory over Wolves in Chelsea’s second league match last season was the only one against notable competition; the remaining six were scored against Morecambe in the FA Cup and Panathinaikos and Noah in the Conference League.

Chelsea will be laughing all the way to the bank after selling Joao Felix to Saudi Arabia

Todd Boehly assured the Premier League that PIF had no involvement in the club’s takeover

Their casual confetti spending is beyond belief but they have Saudi friends ready to fork out

So a gross misjudgment, you’d have to say. Yet now he’s worth the thick end of £44m.

This kind of extravagant spending is astonishing, especially at a time when numerous rival clubs are heavily restricted by profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

However, for Chelsea, it seems there’s no risk involved and no worries when things don’t pan out because they often have their Saudi connections ready to step in and purchase the players that do not fit.

This beneficence is coming from the Saudi state’s sovereign wealth fund, PIF, who – as well as controlling Newcastle United – have a serious investment in Clearlake Capital, who are part of Chelsea’s ownership group.

The Premier League have accepted assurances from Todd Boehly, who bought Chelsea with Clearlake in 2022, that PIF had no involvement in their takeover, which would have potentially created a conflict of interest due to their ownership of Newcastle.

But rivals have long been expressing concern over the Saudi Pro League’s interest in a host of Chelsea players. One top club have described teams’ use of the Saudis as a ‘get out of financial fair play jail-free card’.

Felix is the latest Chelsea player to be plonked straight on a private jet to Riyadh having been deemed a failure, past their best or an error of judgment.

Al Nassr also proved helpful when paying £19.1m for 19-year-old Brazilian winger Angelo Gabriel, who did not play a single minute for Chelsea yet left for £6m more than they paid for him.

Felix is the latest Chelsea player to be plonked straight on a private jet to Riyadh

Both N’Golo Kante (left) and Kalidou Koulibaly (right) have gone the same way in recent years

Raheem Sterling was astonished by Chelsea’s attempts to force him to move to the Gulf

N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy all went the same way. And then there was the ultimate Saudi cash-in, as Chelsea had imagined it, for Raheem Sterling – a player rather less willing to be spirited away into the desert.

When Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca decided he didn’t fancy Sterling, barely two years after Boehly had thrown a £300,000-a-week contract at the winger and begged him to sign, Chelsea were so convinced the Gulf was a way of getting shot that they completed the paperwork before the player had even agreed to go.

Sterling was astonished and called their bluff. He didn’t want to be pushed into the Middle East after settling his family into London and with the pleasure he was taking in watching his son develop into an Under 9s player at Arsenal’s academy.

Offered a choice between the Chelsea bomb squad or the desert, the gist of Sterling’s response was: ‘I’ll stay, then. You won’t push me around.’

And stay he did, until deadline day last summer, when Chelsea were forced to agree to Arsenal’s offer of a season-long loan as a way of getting two thirds of his salary off their books.

Chelsea claim Saudi interest in their players is purely transactional and down to the club’s popularity in the Middle East, but the conveyor belt taking players from Stamford Bridge to Riyadh continues to roll. 

At the top of English football, you can cut the cynicism with a knife.