Aston Villa have been credited with interest in a player who was signed for £113 million in 2019 who faces an uncertain future.
With the 30th June PSR deadline having finally passed, Aston Villa can focus their efforts on signing players for next season rather than sales to avoid breaching Premier League spending rules.
The sales of Tim Iroegbunam, Omari Kellyman and Douglas Luiz were all necessary to ensure compliance, but Unai Emery is now keen to look ahead to next season’s Champions League campaign.
There have been incomings, with Samuel Iling-Junior, Enzo Barrenechea, Lewis Dobbin, Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley all arriving at Villa Park.
Now, though, it is claimed Villa have interest in a player who finds himself at a career crossroads.
Aston Villa could make ambitious move for Joao Felix this summer
With qualification for the Champions League, as well as the pedigree of Emery as a manager, Villa can now attract a higher calibre of player.
With that in mind, the club could now be set to make an audacious move for Atletico Madrid and Portugal forward Joao Felix.
Felix signed for the Madrid side in 2019 for a remarkable £113 million, but it has simply not worked out and, following loan spells at Chelsea and Barcelona, Atletico are keen to offload the 24-year-old this summer.
Duncan Castle revealed on The Transfers Podcast that Felix’s former club Benfica are said to be interested and are willing to spend €32.5 million (£27.5m) on an unconventional deal that would see the club purchase 50% of the player’s rights with a view to purchasing the rest in the future.
Castle went on to claim that Villa could rival the Portuguese club for the enigmatic attacker’s signing.
Speaking to Spanish football expert Guillem Ballague, Castle said: “It has been suggested to me that there is one possible out for him [Felix] in the Premier League…which is Aston Villa.
“With Unai Emery as coach, I’m told that there is a good regard between Felix and Emery and that if Aston Villa can get themselves in a position – they’ve done a lot of work in the last month to sort out their financial issues – that they could be a competitor here for Benfica and that may be a more attractive move to Felix.”
Signing Felix would be big risk for Aston Villa
Speaking to Mundo Deportivo upon then-19-year-old Felix’s mega-money move to Atletico in 2019, Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo had every confidence his fellow countryman would fulfil his potential.
Ronaldo said: “Can he [Felix] repeat my successes in Spain? I believe that a lot because he is an excellent player with a lot of potential who can evolve.”
However, it has not quite worked out that way for Felix who struggled to ever adapt to Diego Simeone’s demands and has shown little sign of progression since leaving Benfica five years ago.
Even whilst on loan at Barcelona last season Felix was primarily on the bench, but the biggest concern for Villa should be the player’s failure to impress whilst on loan at Chelsea in the 2022/23 season, scoring just four times.
Given his failure to get on with Simeone at Atletico, combined with his inability to make an impact at either Chelsea or Barcelona, there are concerns about not only Felix’s performances but also his attitude.
Therefore, Emery may be better off steering well clear of a move for Felix and focus his efforts elsewhere this summer.
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