Barcelona ready to do everything in their power to sign Joao Felix permanently

Journalist Ferran Correas has mentioned via SPORT that Barcelona have already decided that they will do everything in their power to retain Joao Felix beyond his initial loan deal.

The outlet mentions that the Atletico Madrid forward has made a strong case for himself this season and the management will now work on a strategy for the rest of the season so that they can convince Atletico Madrid towards the end of the season.

“We have the entire season to prepare a proposal that allows us to keep Joao Felix. We are very happy with his performance and he is a player that is very popular in all areas of the club,” a Barça source told SPORT.

Joao Felix making an impression

The 23-year-old forward has scored three goals and three assists this season, making him an unassailable presence in the attack.

These impressive numbers perfectly put Deco under the spotlight as it was he who made this transfer possible, albeit with all the help of Joan Laporta.

Consequently, at Barcelona, a resolute commitment has been made to secure Joao Félix’s presence in the team for the upcoming season.

Now, it must be noted that in order to move to Barcelona, Felix has given up a lot. To begin with, before leaving Atletico in the summer, he renewed his deal until 2029.

The 23-year-old also sacrificed a big chunk of his salary by agreeing to lower his salary at Barça to just €400,000 per year for this season.

This was mostly done as Barcelona just could not afford to offer a bigger contract. However, once the registration was done, Barça considerably increased the economic contract of the player, taking the figure to €4 million a year.

All avenues will be explored

With the recent salary adjustment and Felix’s outstanding performance, the club, in collaboration with Jorge Mendes, has commenced the formulation of a strategy to retain the Portuguese talent for the upcoming season.

Notably, Diego Simeone is not in favour of retaining the player, making life relatively easy for Barcelona.

However, the trouble would be negotiating with Atletico CEO Miguel Angel Gil Marin, who would be keen on recouping most of the €127 million they spent on him. Reports suggest that Los Rojiblancos would seek at least €80 million.

While he is under contract with Atletico until 2029, the complex issues related to Financial Fair Play mean that the possibility of extending the loan with an option to purchase is not out of the question this time around.