Atlético plans Joao Félix’s future with 50% increase in last two seasons

One of the topics that will definitely be a hot topic in the upcoming Atlético de Madrid transfer market is the future of Joao Félix. The folks at the Colchonero club are concerned about the situation of the Portuguese player, especially since his time at FC Barcelona this season has been quite lengthy.

Ultimately, despite scoring goals against Atlético in both LaLiga matches and showing some glimpses of talent at the Catalan team, similar to his time at the rojiblanco team, the facts speak for themselves. Whether under Xavi Hernández, Potter, Lampard, or Diego Simeone, Joao Félix has struggled to secure a consistent spot in the starting lineup.

The past two seasons have been challenging for him in this aspect. Moving to Barcelona hasn’t changed this situation much, despite him possibly feeling more at ease in the club, city, or with his current coach. Despite all this, the sporting reality remains unchanged from his time at Atlético in the previous season or during his loan spell at Chelsea.

It all boils down to the same issue – glimpses of brilliance, some good performances, but an inconsistency that has prevented him from becoming a key player in any of the three teams. In fact, at Atlético de Madrid last year, he had a slightly higher percentage of starts compared to his time at FC Barcelona so far. He hasn’t been in the starting lineup for Barcelona since matchday 31, against Cádiz, where he scored his last goal.

Under Xavi‘s guidance, he has been in the starting lineup for 24 out of the 44 games he has played, which is about 54.5% of the time. During his time at Atlético in the first part of the previous season, he started in 55% of the games, which was 11 out of 20. However, during his loan spell at Chelsea, that percentage dropped to 52% of the games, 11 out of 21, partly due to a suspension for three games after being sent off in his debut with the London team.

In terms of minutes played, the situation remains quite similar. At Atlético, he accumulated 954 minutes in half a year. During the second part of the season at Chelsea, he played another 1,187 minutes, totaling 2,141 minutes for the season.

Now, at Barça, with only four games left, he has already played 2,066 minutes. It remains to be seen what he can contribute in these final matches to surpass last year’s minutes. Even if he does, it may not be a significant enough increase to suggest that the Joao we saw at Atlético or Chelsea is very different from the one at Barça.

His goal and assist contributions also show a similar pattern. While at Atlético, he scored four goals and provided three assists in half a season; at Chelsea, he scored four goals and had one assist. In total, he scored eight goals and made four assists. So far at Barça, he has scored 10 goals and assisted six times, which is two goals and two assists more. These numbers don’t necessarily indicate a significant improvement worth celebrating.

THE FUTURE

And the question here is knowing whether this improvement is enough for FC Barcelona to throw its weight around and invest in a player who, as the data shows, has not made that significant leap that everyone expected. Atlético is waiting with several premises. The first, who has a contract until 2029 with the mattress club. The second, that on this occasion he will not allow the negotiation to go to the end of the market to prevent the conditions from being detrimental as happened last year. The third, that there is a Euro Cup involved and that can help the player revalue himself somewhat. The fourth, that Atlético ‘s idea is to sell the player. The amount that is in the heads of the mattress rectors is around 60 million.

The information about a possible return of the footballer goes more along the lines of putting pressure on Barcelona itself to invest in him or for those who want to do so, than in a crazy desire to have him back in the locker room. Simeone does not want to deal again with an issue that clouded the preparation last summer. And of course Joao Félix does not want to return while Cholo is the coach. If there is no other option, Atlético would welcome him again, but we already say that right now it is the least desired assumption in the Metropolitano.

At Atlético they understand that yes, FC Barcelona really loves the player, as they have been saying publicly, they have to make an effort for him. In the Metropolitano it is neither understood nor liked that there is talk of possible investments such as players like Kimmich, Bernardo Silva, Dani Olmo, Williams or Joao Cancelo himself to keep him, and in parallel it slips that there is no money for Joao Félix.

But beyond all that, if Barcelona‘s situation is not what Atlético would prefer, there is the possibility for the player to be used as a bargaining tool for the rojiblancos in a potential operation that could be beneficial, which is also not being ruled out at the moment.

This content has been translated and adapted from the Spanish version of the digital newspaper