How much will Man Utd have to pay for Joao Felix?

FT Desk

• 1 Nov 2022 19:59 GMT
• 3 min read

Recent reports of €100 million bids for Atletico Madrid's Portuguese attacker Joao Felix would appear to be way off the mark…

Felix joined Atletico from Benfica for €126m in the summer of 2019, which was the second-highest fee ever paid for a teenager after the €145m, plus €35m in add-ons, PSG paid Monaco for Kylian Mbappe a year earlier.

But the now 22-year-old has never hit more than eight goals in a La Liga season since, and this term has fallen behind Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann for a place up front in Diego Simeone's 4-4-2 system, and the likes of Thomas Lemar and Marcos Llorente on the flanks.

READ: Joao Felix's Man Utd move could depend on Ronaldo and Mbappe

Accordingly, United and others had hoped to get the forward - now rated at €62m by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm - at a knockdown price. The Red Devils have even been preparing to use the wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo as a makeweight.

But the notion that Felix would be available for anything less than what Atletico paid for him is fanciful according to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano.

Atletico board 'protecting him'

"Bayern Munich are rumoured to have made a big bid for Joao Felix in the summer," he wrote in his CaughtOffside column. "I'm told there were many approaches for Felix, but no official bids submitted to Atletico Madrid.

READ: How Man Utd could line up with Joao Felix

"Also, it would make no sense to bid just €100m for Joao as Atleti would never sell him for that fee, they invested €120m to sign Felix from Benfica and the board is still protecting him."

Felix's current contract at the Estadio Metropolitano runs until 30 June 2026 - not a length of time Felix is likely to see out from the bench.

Felix got the start as Atleti were beaten 2-1 by Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Simeone's side were already out of the competition, with little more than pride left to play for.