Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone has said that people within the club’s community do not like on-loan Barcelona ace Joao Felix’s attitude and this is a reason enough for him to not count on the Portuguese.
Barcelona catered a loan move for Felix during the summer after it came to light that he had no future at Atletico Madrid. Above all, his self-proclaimed love for the Blaugrana did not help his cause in the Spanish capital as well.
Problems between Simeone and Felix
This obviously did not go well with the Atletico manager and he went on the say that he is happy for Felix to move to Barcelona as there is no one above the club.
Problems between Simeone and Felix is a long story, but everything went south earlier this year when the Portuguese was sent on loan to Chelsea.
Since joining Barcelona, though, debate regarding his permanent signing has emerged, but it is largely related to Barcelona’s troubling finances and not Felix’s performance.
In any way, Simeone has opened doors for everything, admitting that if his player continues at Barcelona, it would be good for the team’s economy and if he comes back, he will have three years to prove his worth.
“There are some people at Atletico that don’t like Felix’s attitude,” the Atletico manager told El Larguero.
“We have another idiosyncrasy and when you don’t understand it, it’s difficult to be here. If I’m Argentinian but I live in Spain, I have to live life like it’s lived here.
“I think it would be unfair to say that Felix did not succeed at Atleti because of his attitude. He couldn’t do it, but now we see him better.
“He’s more active with and without the ball. He’s always been talented, but he struggles to track back and defend,” he explained.
Lastly, he also said that whatever happens with Felix at Barcelona will ultimately be good for Atletico Madrid.
“Whatever good things happen to Joao Felix will be good for us. If he stays at Barcelona, we’ll receive an important income. If he comes back, he has three years to prove what he improved elsewhere.”
Where are Barcelona in this?
It’s no secret that while Xavi had his reservations about the Portuguese initially, the forward has adapted seamlessly at Barcelona.
As a result, sporting director Deco has made his thoughts known that if finances are on their side, the team from Catalonia will do everything in their power to sign Felix on a permanent transfer.
“There is no doubt that we want to have them [Felix and Joao Cancelo] next season because they are valid for the squad,” said Deco.
“We are still in November, it is early. But of course, we are already thinking about it. We see how the season is going. We’ll see, these are discussions for later,” he added.
