Atletico Madrid will begin their La Liga title defence without creative star Joao Felix.
Felix played a significant role in Atleti‘s success of last season, but he will not be available for Diego Simeone at the start of the coming campaign.
The Portuguese midfielder played with significant pain in his ankle at Euro 2020 and subsequently decided to undergo an operation to remove the aggravation.
The operation was carried out by Dutch specialist Cornelis Nicolaas Van Dijk and all went to plan, but according to Diario AS, Felix’s return date is not set to be until September.
The more than €100million is very much back on his feet, working to strengthen the ligaments around his ankle over pre-season.
But while he is on track, he will miss the opening two weeks or so of the new La Liga season.
That will be a big blow for Atletico Madrid with games against Celta Vigo and Villarreal to kick off the campaign, but when Felix does return, he should be able to compete pain free, which is certainly a big boost in the long term.
