Arsenal have recently been linked with Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix as they look to bolster their attacking options. Felix moved to the Madrid club in 2019 for over £100m but has struggled to settle since his mega-money switch.
The Gunners finished the summer transfer window with just Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as the forward options going into the season. However, Arsenal’s frontline is now under major scrutiny going into the January window amid a serious knee injury suffered to Jesus during the World Cup.
Since the Brazilian’s injury Arsenal have been linked with a number of forwards going into the winter transfer window. But, it seems that Felix could be the main target on Edu’s radar.
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According to British journalist Duncan Castles, Atletico Madrid are prepared to let Felix join an English Premier League club on loan next month. The La Liga club are reportedly asking for an £8million loan fee, plus the player’s salary to be paid in full, while there would be no contractual option to buy.
Felix comes from the Benfica academy which has had a lot of success in the past in terms of their player development, which Manchester City has benefited from. Mikel Arteta has an excellent chance to follow in Pep Guardiola's footsteps by doing the same with the signing of Felix, whose stardom was once compared to Kylian Mbappe.
The forward was highly touted by Europe’s biggest clubs after his amazing Europa League run with Benfica during the 2018/2019 season. It was Atletico Madrid who signed him later in that summer for a blockbuster £114m transfer, as the youngster was tipped to become one of the world’s best players.
Despite Gabriel Jesus’ arrival, Edu still needs to add more firepower to Arteta’s options in the upcoming transfer windows. Eddie Nketiah and Jesus will need more goal support from different sources in the team. Felix has tons of European experience having made 34 appearances in Europe League and scoring 10 goals in the process, showing that he would be a good alternative option from a goalscoring perspective for the Gunners.
Felix would certainly be a good signing for the Gunners. But, competition for his signature would certainly be fruitful meaning Arsenal would have put themselves in the best negotiation position to be able to complete a deal.
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