Serious doubt cast over Joao Felix to Arsenal as Atleti chief hints at what forward wants to do, with Man Utd watching on
Felix #Felix
Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has suggested attacker Joao Felix may snub the advances of Arsenal and Manchester United in order to stay in the Spanish capital.
Rumours of a Premier League move for Felix have begun to heat up in recent days. On Friday, it emerged Arsenal were ‘stepping up’ their pursuit of the Portugal international.
And on Sunday, the Daily Mirror reported that Mikel Arteta’s side are ready to end their bid to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk and go all out for Felix instead.
Arsenal are apparently happy to pay an initial £9.5million to sign Felix on loan for the remainder of the season. They will then pay Atleti £70m to make the move permanent in the summer.
This would be a significant transfer for Arsenal, given the fact their record signing is the £72m capture of Nicolas Pepe in August 2019.
Felix’s arrival could also be a season-defining move for Arsenal. They need to bolster their attacking ranks after Gabriel Jesus had to have surgery on a knee injury.
Unfortunately for Arteta, there is now doubt over whether Felix will actually end up in north London. During an interview with DAZN, Atleti chief Cerezo has suggested the 23-year-old may actually want to stay with the La Liga outfit.
“Joao Felix future? I always say the players play where in the club that they want, I don’t know where Joao wants to play,” Cerezo said (via Fabrizio Romano).
“I think he’s now feeling so good here at Atleti. It depends on Joao and on the situation.”
The fact Felix is ‘feeling so good’ at Atleti means he could reject Arsenal’s proposal, as well as Man Utd. Erik ten Hag’s side are considering a bid for Felix if some of their other striker pursuits fail.
It would be a major twist if Felix now opted to remain at the Wanda Metropolitano. Several outlets have claimed his relationship with Atleti boss Diego Simeone to be broken. This is down to a lack of game time and Simeone’s rather defensive style of play.
So it would be a big surprise if Felix rejected the opportunity to leave for a club like Arsenal or Man Utd and stay with Atleti. This decision would also leave Arsenal fuming, given how close they are to landing him.
Should Felix firmly reject Arsenal, then they will need to go hunting for other strikers to improve their attack. They could miss out on a Felix alternative to Chelsea, however.
On Saturday, Fabrizio Romano revealed Chelsea had begun talks to try and sign Borussia Monchengladbach ace Marcus Thuram. He will become a free agent in the summer after running down his Gladbach contract. Chelsea, though, are exploring the possibility of a January deal.
Romano has since stated that Chelsea consider signing Thuram as a ‘big opportunity’. Discussions with Gladbach and the player himself will continue over the next few days.
Arsenal have previously set their sights on Thuram as a striker solution, but they now face the possibility of coming up against him in the near future.
It would be hugely disappointing for Arsenal if Felix rejected them and Thuram went to a London rival. Of course, there is still time in the January window to solve their striker void, but these two options may evaporate.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have made contact with the agent of a Barcelona player, according to reports.