Fernando Kallas has claimed that it’s only a ‘matter of time before the deal is done’ for Joao Felix to secure a transfer from Atletico Madrid to Arsenal, as he told The Transfer Show on Sky Sports News.
The Spanish football expert added that the relationship between Felix and Diego Simeone has ‘broken down’ and has become ‘toxic’, with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal keen to take the Portugal international on board.
Arsenal are on the hunt for new attacking faces in the January transfer market because of Gabriel Jesus’ injury, as well as the fact that they are sitting at the top of the Premier League table.
At 23, Felix hasn’t lived up to his hype yet after securing a big-money transfer to Atletico from Benfica when he was a teenager.
Many point towards Simeone’s tactics as a reason behind that, hence why he is now looking for a change in football scenery.
Kallas pointed out that if Arsenal can get a deal for the ‘explosive’ Felix over the line, then he would ‘boost’ their chances of winning the title and he is ‘better than anything they have right now’.
“I am hearing Jorges Mendes spending the whole night trying to negotiate because Joao Felix doesn’t want to play in Madrid anymore,” said Kallas. “The relationship between him and Simeone is broken.
“There is this exodus of Atletico Madrid players that they just want to get out of Simeone’s control. We saw that with Renan Lodi first, Matheus Cunha and now Felix. But the thing is that Atletico paid a lot of money for him, so they want something in return. We are talking about 15 million Euros, at the end of the season for six months! So, it’s a lot of money.
“I think Atletico Madrid have to decide what they want, if they want Simeone in this toxic environment, then they need to get rid of the finesse players. He needs players that fit in their military mentality.
“The toxic environment in the locker room will keep a lot of really good players far from the club. The impression I have is that Simeone doesn’t want good players. He only wants players that fit in his system. I think it’s a broken relationship and it’s a matter of time before the deal is done.
“He is a brilliant player. I love Joao Felix. He is only 23. Explosive player. I think he would fit really well with Arsenal right now and if Arsenal has a great opportunity to boost their chances of winning the Premier League by bringing a player like Joao Felix. Better than anything they have right now.”
FELIX AND MUDRYK
Those are the two names that have been heavily thrown about during these early stages of Arsenal’s January transfer window.
Could Arsenal get both deals done? That would be something and it would seriously enhance the competition within the squad.
It also needs to be remembered that Emile Smith Rowe is back from injury, whilst Jesus should also return.
On top of that, Eddie Nketiah is so far answering the calls and doing the business up top, but he can’t do it alone, hence why at least one of the above names needs to land on Arsenal’s doorstep.
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