Joao Felix has attracted the interest of both Chelsea and Arsenal as Atletico Madrid seem set to consider bids to sell their record signing. Felix completed a £113million transfer to Atletico in 2019 from Benfica but has struggled for form and thus significant game time.
Alongside the two London clubs, Aston Villa are also in the race to sign Felix according to a report from Marca. The Spanish outlet claim that Felix is "destined to leave" Atletico with the January transfer window on the horizon, and Villa have emerged as a shock candidate to secure the signing of the player in the near future.
The report also claims Villa are "negotiating" a transfer which would likely place them in pole position to acquire the services of Felix. However, following the knee injury and subsequent surgery inflicted on Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Arteta and Edu could look to bolster their attacking depth by signing the 23-year-old.
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Earlier this year football.london reported that the Gunners were interested in signing the Portugal international, and they could reignite that interest following Jesus' injury. Chelsea could also renew interest having chased to sign Felix from Benfica back in 2019 before he joined Atletico and comments from CEO, Gil Marín, has given both clubs great optimism about securing a deal.
When discussing Felix's future at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, he said: “João Felix has top level but because of his relationship with Simeone and game time… we feel that makes sense to consider potential bids to sell him."
“I’d love for Joao to continue, but this is the current situation," he added. Felix has only registered seven goal contributions in 18 appearances for his club so far this season and scored in Portugal's opening World Cup fixture against Ghana in Qatar.
Following his national team's 6-1 last-16 win against Switzerland, Felix dropped a transfer hint suggesting he is unhappy in the Spanish capital. He told Sport Tv: “The way of playing with Portugal and then at the club is different. When the conditions are favourable, things go better."
Upon offering the admission regarding his preference about playing for the national team over his club, perhaps suggesting he wants a move away, Felix was quick to shift the focus back to Portugal's World Cup campaign and away from his future.
"I'm completely focused on the World Cup," he said. "My agent doesn't tell me anything about what's going to happen, nor does he want to. I need to be focused on the now to play a great tournament".
Felix will likely play a key role in Portugal's bid to win a third major international trophy in six years after winning Euro 2016 and the Nations League title in 2019.
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