Joao Felix returned to Atletico Madrid at the start of the summer after Chelsea failed to sign him on a permanent basis. However, he was not in Diego Simeone’s plans, and spent much of pre-season on the sidelines.
Felix’s relationships at the club were already on the edge, and he risked burning all of his bridges when he went public with his desire to join rivals Barcelona. However, it did end up working out, and he ended up joining the Catalans on loan during the final days of the transfer window.
Not everyone thinks poorly of Felix at Atleti following the incident. As he told Diario AS, Samuel Lino still thinks very highly of the Portuguese, who he understood needed to leave during the summer.
“He felt he needed to change. He’s at Barcelona, he wanted to follow a different path, and I wish him all the luck in the world. I got along very well with him, I really like him as a person, he’s incredible.”
Lino and his Atletico Madrid will come face-to-face with Felix and Barcelona in two weeks time, when the two teams meet at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on the 3rd of December.
