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Arsenal hierarchy huge fan of wantaway Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix

By Ritayan Chatterjee on October 19, 2022

Arsenal’s hierarchy are reportedly huge fans of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, as per the journalist Paul Brown.

The Rojiblancos signed the 22-year-old back in 2019 from Portuguese giants SL Benfica for a whopping fee of around £115m. However, things haven’t gone according to plan for the highly-rated forward in the Spanish capital since his big-money move.

Despite showcasing glimpses of his talent at the Wanda Metropolitano, the Portugal international hasn’t been able to flourish in Diego Simeone’s pragmatic style of football and as a consequence of that, the forward has failed to establish himself as a regular starter.

Earlier Portuguese outlet A Bola reported that the relationship between Felix and Simeone has completely broken and is beyond repair, so, the talented youngster wants to leave Atletico Madrid in January.

Meanwhile, speaking on GiveMeSport, Paul Brown has stated that Arsenal have been keeping tabs on Felix for a long time and the striker is known to some of the Gunners’ hierarchy very well.

The journalist further claims that Arsenal have huge admirers of the Atletico star in their board room and they have been a ‘big fan’ of the highly-rated forward for a very long time.

Joao Felix to Arsenal

Brown said:

“Arsenal have, for a long time, looked at Joao Felix. I think he’s known very well to some of the hierarchy there, who are big fans and have been for quite a while.”

Joao Felix would be a great signing for Arsenal, given he is deemed to be one of the best young players in world football and possesses a huge talent, therefore, he could be a perfect option to play in Mikel Arteta’s system. The youngster’s technical ability as well as his vision of finding defence-splitting passes are the highlights of his game.

However, Felix likes to play as a second striker with the freedom of roaming around the pitch, but, the Gunners play with a lone forward. So, Arteta might have to tweak his formation in order to accommodate the Portuguese in his starting line-up if the forward were to join the Emirates Stadium in January.

Nevertheless, if the 22-year-old becomes available then Arsenal should make a move for him. The striker is valued at around £63m by Transfermarkt and still has four years in his current contract.

So, purchasing the youngster permanently could be difficult for the north London club in January, therefore, signing him on an initial loan deal with an option to buy for a reasonable price could be an option for Arteta’s side if they formalise their interest in him in winter.