Atletico Madrid are on their preseason marathon tour around the world, which will see them travel over 30,000km, but rather than the football dominating the talking points, it is the transfers. The future of Joao Felix in particular remains at the forefront of the mind.
Following Felix’s declaration that he wanted to join Barcelona, many at Atletico have lost patience with the Portuguese talent. Yet with the Catalans unable or unwilling to commit to a deal for Felix, it has left him looking somewhat stuck.
Speaking to Cadena SER, defender Mario Hermoso explained that it was up to Felix and the club.
“At the end of the day, he is our teammate, he continues with us for as long as he has to, like any teammate, like anyone who is part of Atletico Madrid and, obviously, he will be a teammate until the day he decides he doesn’t want to be, or until the day the club makes the decision that he is not there, like any of us.”
He leaned on his manager, Diego Simeone, who is always keen to point out that most of the football staff employed by Los Colchoneros are just passing through.
“Obviously, as Diego said, after all, the only thing that remains here and the only thing that is here is the club, so the club will always be above any of us who form part of Atletico Madrid, and of course also the people, those who support it, those who follow it and those who maintain Atletico as it is and what people see from the outside.”
Hermoso did make it clear though – if Felix does not want to be at Atletico, then he should leave the club.
“As I told you, any player who wants to be in the club should be and any player who doesn’t want to be, shouldn’t be, but, obviously, any player who is currently in the squad is going to be treated in the same way.”
Felix’s future remains unclear, and while Simeone would always follow the club line and make use of what is available to him, it seems in everyone’s best interests currently if he were to depart before the end of the transfer window. Clearly, his teammates are not averse to the idea either.
