Félix: I would love to play for Barcelona. It’s always been my first choice, it would make my childhood dream come true

João Félix is not happy at Atlético Madrid and is looking for a way out. A six-month loan spell at Chelsea didn’t do the trick as new coach Mauricio Pochettino didn’t want him. The Portuguese has now let it be known that he would like to head to Barcelona.

When Atlético Madrid sold Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona for €120 million in the summer of 2019, they reached for a replacement in Benfica Lisbon, where youngster João Félix had a great debut season.

It paid virtually the same amount for him that it cashed in from Barcelona, hoping he would be the superstar of the future. But Félix didn’t do well at Madrid, not least because he has a different style of play to coach Diego Simeone.

As a true Portuguese, Félix is a toy with the ball, he likes to keep it on his feet, he wants to combine, to keep the ball on his feet often. But that’s not how you play at Atlético. The Colchoneros often opt for a “parked bus” or defensive approach to the game, where the attackers just move and wait for the rare break.

Simeone has tried for a long time to implement Félix into this style, but it simply doesn’t fit. It all came to a head last autumn when Félix, after a few games spent only on the bench, exploded and had an argument with Simeone.

So he tried to leave Civítas Metropolitano in the winter at any cost, but no club was able to pay what Atlético were asking for him. So Félix went at least on loan to Chelsea, but the new coach Mauricio Pochettino didn’t want him.

So where would Félix like to go? In Catalonia. For Fabrizio Romano, the Portuguese revealed where he would prefer to go.

“I would love to play for Barcelona. It has always been my first choice and I would love to move there. It’s always been my dream since I was a kid. If it happens, it will be a dream come true for me,” said Félix.

But a move to Barcelona will be more difficult at the moment. The financial side of the club doesn’t allow much strengthening at the moment, so far only Ilkay Gündogan and Iñigo Martínez have come for free.

Even so, Barcelona have to raise €60 million to register the new signings. And it is almost clear that Atlético will ask for at least 70 million euros, so for Barcelona a transfer is now unrealistic.

Source: Fabrizio Romano