Atletico Madrid have sent a less than subtle hint over the future of Joao Felix after Manchester United were linked with a big-money swoop for the Portuguese forward.
Erik ten Hag ’s troops have endured a woeful start to the new Premier League season - losing their first match of the campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion before being thumped by Thomas Frank’s Brentford.
That has led to even further calls for the current squad at Old Trafford to be strengthened with a number of fresh names being linked with a transfer. One of the more intriguing players rumoured to be under consideration was 22-year-old Joao Felix.
Reports in Spain suggested that Man Utd had seen a huge bid of £110m turned down by Atleti, the La Liga giants not keen on cashing in on the former Benfica starlet and would only be tempted into a sale should his eye-watering £295m release clause be met.
They have now taken one step further with a cheeky social media post that looks sure to be pointed at United’s direction. The Spanish side took to Twitter with an image of Felix in training with the simple caption “priceless”.
Felix, a 22-time Portugal international, has been with Atleti since a huge move from Portuguese giants Benfica back in 2019 having caught the eye at the Estadio da Luz. He has gone on to accumulate 112 appearances for the club since but has scored just 29 goals in that time.
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He has however enjoyed the perfect start to the new campaign having racked-up three assists in the opening day victory over Getafe. Felix has also ironically already scored at Old Trafford during his career as he found the net in a 1-1 draw in the Champions League last-16 first-leg last term - the Red Devils going on to be eliminated after a slender 1-0 defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The Portuguese currently has just under four years left to run on his contract in Spain amid rumours of a move to Old Trafford and has already underlined his satisfaction at life with the 11-time La Liga champions.
Speaking to AS earlier this year, he said: "I'm happy, I'm working to help the team, give joy to the club and all the people of Atleti. The other years I always tried to be better.
“If this is my year, I don’t know. It depends, we don't know about the future. But what I can assure you is that I am doing my best to be at the best level so that I can help the team and the club.
"I arrived here young, I'm still young but I've already grown a lot and I'm sure to grow more. And I'm fine. I'm happy. I have a calm head and when so, things go naturally and let’s hope things are good.
“With [Antoine] Griezmann, with Alvaro [Morata], with [Matheus] Cunha, with Angel [Correa]. We all get along well and on the field, the team is doing great."
