Barcelona will look to wait Atletico Madrid out when it comes to securing the signature of Joao Felix, as they remember letting Antoine Griezmann go for well below his market value.
The Frenchman moved on a permanent deal last summer to the tune of €20m plus €4m in variables, but this came initially after having a purchase option of €40m. That would have been obligatory had Griezmann played a set percentage of minutes, but Atletico only used him as a substitute for the opening the games of the season, proving to Barcelona they were willing to go to great lengths to get them to the negotiating table.
Now Sport say that Barcelona will look to repeat the trick with Joao Felix. The Portuguese loanee has impressed at Barcelona so far, but Los Rojiblancos have set an asking price of €80m for Felix, something the Blaugrana have no intention of paying. Felix, for his part, is currently determined to continue at Barcelona and would reject a move to Saudi Arabia, his only other offer this summer. It is also pointed out that other players could enter the deal, but any talks will likely be defined by Felix himself.
Barcelona’s only leverage is if Felix refuses to go elsewhere, meaning Atletico would need to find a way of negotiating, or just eating his salary for the coming year, with Felix and Diego Simeone non longer seeing eye to eye. Los Rojiblancos will be hoping his good form continues, persuading a Premier League giant to come in for Felix, and eventually convince him to leave.
