The relationship between Joao Felix and Atletico Madrid has been a somewhat fraught one.
Since arriving in Madrid three-and-a-half years ago, Felix has shown his quality in fits and bursts, but without really settling into a defined role. In particular, his relationship with manager Diego Simeone has deteriorated, leading to the Portuguese being benched since mid-September.
It has been a poorly kept secret that Felix himself is looking for a way out of Atleti and his agent Jorge Mendes is already working on finding him a new home. However for the first time, Atletico Madrid are on board and hoping to find an exit for Felix, as per Marca.
It is not yet clear whether this will occur in January or in the summer. In the past months, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Manchester United have all expressed an interest.
The €60m hole in Los Colchoneros’ accounts also stands out as a good reason to sell Felix, although any deal is likely to be closer to double that amount. Atletico Madrid need to make sales in order to close that gap and Felix’s sale could wipe it out entirely.
The entire operation must go down as a historic failure for Atletico Madrid. The most expensive signing in their history, at €129m, never managed to become a guaranteed starter at the Metropolitano. It marks out the distance between the recruitment department and Simeone, with the Argentine never seemingly convinced of Felix’s fit, despite his quality.
