PETE JENSON: Joao Felix was meant to be the poster boy of Atletico Madrid’s style makeover, now he’s just the image of how it never got off the ground… the Portugal star is not a Diego Simeone soldier and their lack of cohesion means an exit is likely
- Joao Felix is very likely to leave Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window
- That is despite Felix enjoying an impressive World Cup with Portugal in Qatar
- His unsustainable relationship with Diego Simeone is one of the main factors
- Simeone wants his men to be soldiers on the pitch, but Felix does not fit into that
- The club also need to cash in on him next month amid their own poor finances
An unsustainable working relationship with Diego Simeone; his own through-the-floor motivation levels; and Atletico Madrid’s finances being shot to pieces by a disastrous exit from all European competition, mean that Joao Felix is now very likely to leave the Spanish club this January.
With Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa among the player’s options, the Premier League is where his agent Jorge Mendes is trying to place him. A loan that would carry a fee but leave an option of him returning in the summer, and send his valuation back up towards the 126m euros original price tag is a possibility under consideration.
The 23-year-old who reminded everyone of his quality at the World Cup was the poster boy of Atletico’s style makeover, now he and his coach are just the image of how that attempted transition never got off the ground. The club might have gone on trying to make it work were it not for the financial hit of dropping out of the Champions and Europa League and the player also seeing no way of making himself a success for as long as Simeone stays – which he is set to do.
Joao Felix impressed for Portugal at the World Cup before their elimination in the quarter-final
But the 23-year-old still appears set to leave Atletico Madrid next month despite his success
Felix does not see eye to eye with manager Diego Simeone (left)
It went largely under the World Cup radar when the club’s chief executive Miguel Angel Gil admitted this much two weeks ago.
Speaking on his way to Dubai for La Liga’s General Assembly Gil was very matter-of-fact when he told…