In recent weeks, Joao Felix’s future has become increasingly unclear. Barcelona had been expected to make a move to re-sign him from Atletico Madrid, but now, it’s not certain that he will end up at Catalonia later this summer.
Felix has rejected interest from former club Benfica, whom he has no intention of re-joining at this stage. It’s likely that returning to Barcelona is his primary objective, although a recent request to agent Jorge Mendes would give him less chance of being in Hansi Flick’s squad for next season.
As reported by MD, Felix has told Mendes to have his future sorted by the 27th of July, which is the date that he is projected to return to Atleti. He has no intention of joining up with Diego Simeone’s squad, meaning that there are only 18 days for matters to be decided.
Barcelona have no intention of signing Felix any time soon, simply because they have yet to return to La Liga’s 1:1 rule. On top of this, they are prioritising moves for Nico Williams and a new defensive midfielder, making it almost impossible to re-sign Felix because the aforementioned date.
If Felix is to return to Barcelona, he will have to take the “punishment” of returning to Atletico Madrid and re-uniting with Simeone. A deal could even take as long as it did last summer, when he arrived in Catalonia on the final day of the transfer window.