The latest Chelsea news with Joao Felix impressing at AC Milan while Enzo Maresca is hit by another injury.

Joao Felix once again endured a successful weekend on loan with AC Milan while Chelsea suffered another defeat on the south coast. In the space of six days, the Blues have lost twice to Brighton at Amex Stadium, with 5-1 as the aggregate score-line over both games in two competitions.

Last Saturday, the Seagulls knocked Enzo Maresca’s side out of the FA Cup and followed that up with a 3-0 win on Friday evening in Premier League action. Chelsea were without Nicolas Jackson and Marc Guiu for the two defeats, while Noni Madueke was also forced off due to injury in the most recent encounter.

Felix, meanwhile – who would have almost certainly been used in the absence of three attackers – has enjoyed a positive start to life in Italy. After scoring on his debut against Roma, Felix has started all three games since under Sergio Conceicao despite the plethora of attacking talent at his disposal.

Either side of a Champions League reverse to Feyenoord, Milan have picked up two Serie A wins – against Empoli and Verona. While Felix was unable to get amongst the goal contributions, his impact was clear in the 1-0 win over the latter.

Despite starting in an attacking midfield role, the Portugal international moved out to the left side when Christian Pulisic replaced Riccardo Sottil at half-time. Felix was then allowed more freedom which saw him drop deeper and win four fouls to get his team up the pitch.

Rafael Leao and Santiago Gimenez eventually combined to score the decisive goal for Milan. As Felix was often played in the No.10 role, he rarely started in the same team as Cole Palmer, with Maresca explaining exactly why that was after not bringing him off the bench in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham back in December.

“We decided to sub on [Christopher] Nkunku… And Joao plays more or less the same position as Cole Palmer. They played together already but it’s also a matter of balance. That’s the reason why.” Just four weeks before that, in the 2-1 win at Leicester, Maresca actually deployed both in the same starting XI.

As Chelsea continue to struggle in attacking quarters, alongside a triple injury blow, Maresca could have absolutely done with Felix over the last week. While it was very unlikely three players in the same position all picked up issues, it has now happened and the Blues could desperately do with some additional bodies up front.