Barcelona's Laporta admits his love for Joao Felix
Cameron Smith
- 29 Mar 2022 18:26 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted his love for Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix and revealed he tried to arrange a deal for the Portuguese international to join the Catalan giants last summer.
Felix, 22, joined Atleti for a club record fee in 2019 following his breakout at Benfica, but injuries and other factors have meant he has only started 46 La Liga games across his time at the club, which is approaching three years this summer.
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The forward, who can operate through the middle or out wide, has scored six league goals this campaign, and has found an admirer in the Barcelona president.
Speaking to RAC1, Laporta revealed that Barcelona have agreed deals to sign a central midfielder and a defender this summer, revelled at Xavi's time in charge and also discussed Atletico's Felix with great pleasure.
What has been said?
Laporta told RAC1: "I love João Félix. In the summer a swap with [Antoine] Griezmann was attempted but Atlético said 'no'."
Felix, a tricky forward, was one of Europe's brightest talents when he joined Atletico, emerging onto the world stage after his hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-final at the age of just 19.
That reportedly caught the eye of the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Juventus, but it was Atletico who managed to agree a deal for the youngster.
However, since his time in Spain, Laporta has seemingly become a fan of the player who has been under Diego Simeone's tutelage at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
While Felix is someone Laporta wants at Barcelona, his comments suggest that Antoine Griezmann doesn't have a future at the club. The 2018 World Cup winner was signed by Barcelona from Atletico, who incidentally brought in Felix as his replacement, but after a tricky time at the Camp Nou in front of goal, he was shipped back on loan to Atleti ahead of the 2021/22 season.
Griezmann has five goal contributions in the league this campaign, while Felix has 10.
