Barcelona new arrival turned down offers from Liverpool, Man United to join the club

On an eventful transfer deadline day this past week, Barcelona completed two signings one of which was Joao Felix, who arrived on loan from Atletico Madrid.

The 23-year-old had been very clear from early in the summer that he only wanted to join Barcelona, his ‘dream club’.

As such, the Portuguese international made major financial sacrifices to secure a move to Barça, accepting net wages worth only €400,000 for the season.

It has now emerged that Felix even rejected more lucrative offers from several clubs in order to sign for the La Liga champions.

Felix said no to Liverpool, Man United, and others

Indeed, according to Fernando Polo of Mundo Deportivo, Felix had offers from two of the biggest clubs in Europe in the form of Liverpool and Manchester United.

Beyond that, another Premier League club, Aston Villa, had also sent in a proposal while Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal also made an approach.

The report claims that Liverpool wished to trade Felix for Darwin Nunez whereas Manchester United want him on loan for the season.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery also made a hard push for the Portuguese international whereas Al Hilal made strong efforts for Felix before going for Neymar.

But the response from Felix was: “No, thanks, I want to go to Barça and I’ll wait for them.”

Patience with Felix

Apart from rejecting offers and lowering his wages, Felix also signed a new contract with Atletico Madrid extending his stay from 2027 to 2029 so as to reduce the amortization costs, following which they allowed him to leave on loan.

While the 23-year-old is now a Barcelona player, manager Xavi Hernandez’s plan is to incorporate him into the team with some degree of patience.

The manager believes that Felix will take some time to adapt to the new tactics and philosophy at the team, having played a completely different style of football at Atletico Madrid and Chelsea (loan).