The Portuguese plays for the Catalan club on loan without the right to buy
Barcelona decided to keep the striker Joao Felixwho plays for the Catalan club on loan from Atlético.
In a short time, the Portuguese convinced the coaching staff and management of his usefulness and effectiveness. The Blaugranas are planning to develop a strategy to keep the Portuguese in their squad beyond the 2023/24 season.
Let us remind you that 23-year-old Felix joined Barcelona on the last day of the transfer window, having moved from Atlético Madrid on a one-year loan without an option to buy. The agreement is valid until June 30, 2024.
In less than a month and a half, the footballer, who can occupy the position of a left winger or a deep forward, played 8 matches for the Catalan club in two tournaments (Primera, Champions League), 7 of them started, scored three goals, and gave three assists.
The Catalan club first of all updated the football player’s salary. Due to financial restrictions, the Portuguese’s initial salary at the new club was 400 thousand euros per year. When the year’s balance was settled, Barcelona sought to increase the player’s salary to 4 million – which was still half what he received at Atlético.
Under the terms of the current loan, the player will have to return to Atlético next summer. But the Blue Garnets are already trying to negotiate with the Madrid club on options for extending the agreement or a full buyout of Felix.
The player himself does not mind staying at his current club. Mattress coach Diego Simeone doesn’t need him either. The main stumbling block is the desire of the Colchoneros management to get decent money for the player in order to at least partially recoup the amount of 127 million euros that the club paid for the player to Benfica in 2019.
Barcelona is third in La Liga with 21 points. In the next round, the blue garnets will host Athletic on October 22.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
