Barcelona will not, or perhaps more accurately, cannot afford to break the bank for Joao Felix next summer, should they desire to make his deal permanent. The Portuguese has been inconsistent for the Blaugrana this season, but Sporting Director has said publicly that they want to keep him.
Reports have situated Atletico Madrid’s asking price at around €70-80m for Felix, something that is well out of the reach of Barcelona. The Catalan side intend to offer €30-40m for Felix, say MD, and if Los Rojiblancos do not accept their offer, to offer another loan deal. They are relying on both Felix and agent Jorge Mendes fighting their corner, and only accepting an exit to Barcelona. This is Felix’s initention at this point.
🚨 Barca will Negotiate with Atletico Madrid for Joao Felix. Barca plans to offer around €30m-€40m for the player, if Atletico do not agree then Barca will negotiate a loan for another year by paying a loan fee and his salary and a purchase option for 2025. Felix only wants to… pic.twitter.com/WjKUoDPrxx
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 7, 2023
In recent months it was reported that Atletico want to wrap up a deal as soon as possible to avoid it becoming another summer saga, and Barcelona are keen to do the same. They are ready to negotiate either a transfer or a loan for Felix as early as January, fearing that a glut of goals between now and the end of the season will give Los Colchoneros a stronger negotiating position, and increase interest in the Portuguese.
Barcelona’s strategy is similar to that of Atletico’s with Griezmann, with all sides aware that a return to the old club is virtually impossible, and still less so after Felix’s celebrations against Atletico last weekend. What may give Atletico a slight upper hand compared to the Griezmann case is that they have renewed Felix’s deal until 2029, meaning their ammortisation costs are much more agreeable than Barcelona’s were for Griezmann.
