Atletico Madrid will sell forward to any club except Barcelona or Real Madrid

Despite Enrique Cerezo’s kind words, it is highly anticipated that Atletico Madrid will listen to offers for Joao Felix in the summer.

Considering the current state of affairs in terms of finances, Atletico must find a way to sell the Portuguese as he remains their biggest cash cow.

Now, it is understood that Chelsea might not continue with his services beyond this season, meaning that he could, after all, return at the end of the season.

Furthermore, several media reports claim that Atletico are willing to bear a loss in his sale as they are ready to settle for anywhere around €80 million. In that regard, Newcastle United are thought to be an exciting option, but one cannot overlook the positions of Barcelona and Real Madrid as well.

Barcelona, in particular, have shown interest in the Portugal international in the past. In fact, club president Joan Laporta has publicly admitted that he once tried to sign Felix as part of the Antoine Griezmann deal.

“I really like Joao Felix,” Laporta had said. “It’s a pleasure to see him playing football. Last summer we were working to complete a swap deal with Atletico [Madrid] between Joao Felix and [Antoine] Griezmann, then it collapsed.”

So if Barcelona decide to knock on Atletico’s doors once again, they will face nothing but an outright rejection as journalist David Medina, while writing for MARCA, claims that while the Rojiblancos are ready to sell the young forward to any club in Europe, they will not listen to any offers from the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Now, it is not that Barcelona have a troubled relationship with Atletico. It is just that Miguel Angel Gil is not in the favour of the transfer as he does not want to see a talent he signed succeed at a rival club.

In all fairness, although Barcelona are indeed looking for a forward, they would have not looked towards Felix in the first place considering how substandard his Chelsea tenure has been this year, as well as the finances that would be involved in the deal.