Atletico Madrid are hopeful that they will be able to land Benfica’s teenage star Joao Felix this summer, report Marca.
The report claims that the sale of Antoine Griezmann will fund the €120m move to trigger Felix’s release clause, while his salary is far below that of the French forward.
It is also said that the promise of regular first-team football, the role of Coach Diego Simeone and his agent Jorge Mendes’s relationship with Atleti all as being key.
Felix, 19, has risen to prominence for the Lisbon-based giants this season and netted 20 goals while registering 11 assists for the club, who regained the Portuguese top-flight.
The player’s contract at the Lisbon-based giants run through until 2023 although previous reports have claimed Benfica are trying to move this up to €200m with a new deal.
Felix has netted in two Lisbon derbies against Sporting CP this season and also scored against FC Porto in a key title clash in January.
That has led to the attack-minded midfielder being labelled as ‘the next Cristiano Ronaldo’ while Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United have also scouted the player.
The player is said to be versatile and can operate in a number of attacking positions, while he starred in the UEFA Youth League semi-finals in 2016-17 against Real Madrid.
