Atletico Madrid like €35 million-rated Barcelona forward, but swap deal involving Joao Felix unlikely

As reported just a while ago, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have begun talks to prolong Joao Felix’s stay in Catalonia beyond the current season.

The idea is for the 24-year-old Portuguese forward to remain at Barça on loan for another campaign with a mandatory purchase clause inserted depending on a certain set of objectives.

Superagent Jorge Mendes is mediating talks between the two Spanish heavyweights over the operation, but SPORT is reporting that Barcelona would not be entirely opposed to a direct swap deal involving Felix and an attacking player of theirs.

Atletico Madrid like Ferran Torres

In such a scenario, one of the names that might get included in the operation would be Ferran Torres, as the report claims that Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone is an admirer of the Spanish international.

Torres, whose market value stands at €35 million, has been unable to nail down a regular berth in the starting XI at Barcelona.

But he has been showcasing decent form of late and has been staking a claim for greater involvement.

While his situation remains as it is at Barcelona, Atletico Madrid management seem to like the 23-year-old attacker.

This is not the first time that the Spaniard has been linked with the Rojiblancos, with his name having come up in the past as well, when the Catalans were interested in signing Yannick Carrasco.

Swap deal unlikely

Despite that, though, any direct swap deal involving Ferran and Joao Felix looks extremely unlikely as things stand.

As per the report, there has been no progress whatsoever on this front despite Barcelona being open to a direct swap.

Simeone likes Torres a lot, but no progress is being made in this regard despite the fact that financially such an operation would be very appetising for both teams.

Furthermore, the operation would also require the approval of the player involved in the operation, which makes the deal unlikely as Ferran has time and again stated that he is happy at Barcelona and wants to succeed at the club.