Atletico Madrid News
Atletico Madrid forward ‘loved’ by Barcelona president Joan Laporta – report
Following a poor start to the new season, Joao Felix has once again become a sought-after prospect in the market.
This is thanks to the forward’s solid World Cup campaign. The young attacker played a critical role for a Portugal side that reached the quarterfinals, with the player even racking up one goal and two assists.
Although Portugal suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of Morocco in the semifinals, Felix’s performances have not gone unnoticed. A host of Premier League clubs have already sounded out the possibility of signing the player in the upcoming January transfer window.
And according to David Bernabeu Reverter on RadioEstadio Noche, Barcelona are among the clubs who harbour the dream of signing Felix. The club’s president Joan Laporta is ‘in love’ with the Portuguese international.
However, any operation to sign Felix is far from easy from Barcelona’s perspective. The club have struggled a lot with Financial Fair Play rules lately and must reduce a chunk of their wage budget if they are to make new signings in January.
Although the club have come up with plans to generate more revenue next month, the club are simply not in a position to sign Felix.
The Portuguese international had joined Atletico Madrid for a figure of around €120 million and given his age and recent form with the national team, Los Colchoneros have every right to try and recoup most of that amount, if not all.
Apart from Barcelona, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are the other clubs interested in the services of Felix, with the forward himself said to prefer a move to the French outfit.
Although Atleti are open to selling the attacker in January, it remains to seen whether any of the interested parties can come up with the fees to sign the player next month.
Atletico Madrid News
Atletico Madrid to rival Inter, AC Milan and Roma for 23-year-old centre-forward
Atletico Madrid are set to enter the market for another striker in the summer transfer window even though they signed Memphis Depay in January from Barcelona.
And according to Italian journalist Giacomo Iacobellis, Atletico Madrid are interested in signing 23-year-old striker Mateo Retegui, who is also on the radars of AC Milan, Inter and AS Roma.
Retegui, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, also has Italian citizenship and has recently been called up by Roberto Mancini to the national team squad for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers.
The 23-year-old striker is currently plying his trade for Argentine outfit Tigre, on loan from Boca Juniors, having joined in February last year. He has made a solid impression so far in his time with his temporary club and has six goals in seven league appearances this season so far.
It has alerted Atletico Madrid, who are on the lookout for a new centre-forward. Depay was brought in earlier this year to replace Joao Felix, who left on loan and is likely to be sold permanently to Chelsea in the summer.
Having lost Matheus Cunha as well during the winter, Diego Simeone’s side do not have great depth up top, especially with Alvaro Morata not performing consistently. Hence, a new centre-forward could arrive at the Civitas Metropolitano, with Retegui emerging as an option.
Retegui’s loan deal runs until the end of this year, with Tigre having the option to make the transfer permanent. His contract with Boca Juniors expires at the end of December 2024.
Apart from Atletico, Italian clubs like AS Roma, AC Milan and Inter Milan are also keen on the 23-year-old and it remains to be seen if Retegui moves to Europe come summer.
