Joao Felix reveals why he took a PAY CUT to join Barcelona
Tom Weber
- Updated: 21 Sept 2023 15:26 BST
- 4 min read
Joao Felix has explained his decision to forgo a lot of money in order to be able to play for Barcelona.
The erstwhile wonderkid has started like a house on fire since making the loan switch from Atletico Madrid to Catalonia. It was his 'dream' to play for the Blaugrana and the 23-year-old is clearly not taking for granted that he gets to live it.
After three goals in two games - being named Man of the Match in both - the Portuguese sat down with Mundo Deportivo to shed light on his decision to leave Atletico. Given Barcelona's dire financial situation, Felix had to take a sizeable pay cut for a deal to become a possibility.
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The attacker has had a torrid time in Spain's capital since Atleti broke the bank to sign him from Benfica for a ridiculous €127.2 million and he already spent the second half of last season out on loan, having joined Chelsea in January.
Heading into the new campaign, Felix was on the outside looking in after being banished from the first-team by Atletico boss Diego Simeone and he has now revealed that he has never been able to come to grips with the Argentine's style.
What did Felix say?
"When things are going badly in football for someone, you have to make a change," the Barca attacker said. "I did it before going to Chelsea and I have done it now with Barcelona because I was not doing well there [at Atleti], I did not adapt to the ideas of the club and the coach, but I have always tried to do the best I can and I had very good times there too."
Felix also shed some light on the pay cut he took to be able to sign for Barcelona: "It's true, I gave up a significant part of my salary, but I needed a change. I needed to come to a place where I can play my style of football and I have always said I think this is the ideal place. Things are going well and it was an effort I needed to make to be able to find joy playing football again."
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Barcelona, however, do not have an option to buy Felix, meaning that they will have to negotiate on Atletico's terms if they wish to keep him beyond this season. This has already given rise to concerns that if he continues to play well, he will be out of their price range.
Here's what the man himself had to say on the matter: "Well, for me it depends on how the season ends. Afterwards, Barcelona is the one who has to negotiate with Atleti and that depends on Atleti - if they want to make things easier or not. But those are business things, which I don't get involved in."
