Why Arsenal could attempt to sign Joao Felix this summer

FT Desk

22 Feb 2022 19:05 GMT
6 min read

Joao Felix during Atletico Madrid's LaLiga match vs Athletic — © ProShots

Arsenal fans may have raised an eyebrow when they saw who the latest player was to be linked to their club on Tuesday.

According to El Chiringuito, the London side have turned their attention towards none other than Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix and could look to make a move for the young talent this summer.

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Despite being considered one of Europe’s most promising young players, Felix has struggled for form in the Spanish capital this season.

As such, the Spanish publication claims that Atleti may be willing to sell the player in the coming summer transfer window.

But is there any logic behind such a move or is this just another transfer rumour that makes no sense at all.

.@eduardoinda: “Joao Felix is a very good player. Arsenal want him. Simeone, his objective is to change Felix for Guedes. The problem Atleti have is that he cost €120m & getting that back is something that can only be done if he is sold to the Premier League.” [@elchiringuitotv] pic.twitter.com/E1niGaG3o7
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) February 22, 2022

He’s still got plenty of potential

Although Felix has struggled at Atleti this season with just four goals and five assists this season, that’s not to say the forward isn’t still a remarkably talented player that Arsenal would be lucky to have.

Last season the Portugal international bagged an impressive 10 goals and six assists in 40 games at the tender age of 20 and the season before that saw him bag nine goals and three assists in less than 2,500 minutes of football.

Couple that with the fact that he had 20 goals and 11 assists in 43 games for Benfica before he could legally drive a car and it’s clear that Felix still has plenty of potential to burn through and it would be foolish to write off the 22-year-old just yet.

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A post shared by João Félix (@joaofelix79)

Now is the best time to sign him

Another reason why Arsenal may be looking to sign Felix is due to the fact that his value for Atleti is dropping by the day and he may end up being something of a bargain for Arsenal come the summer window.

For example, the Portuguese forward was worth a remarkable €81 million in January of 2021, but by the end of the year that figure had dropped to just €62.8m. And now Felix is worth just €57m.

If the player’s form doesn’t improve between now and the end of the season, Atleti may be forced to sell him for half the €126m they paid for him back in 2019. And that would be music to the ears of Arsenal and their supporters.