Aston Villa are the only club showing ‘real interest’ in signing out-of-favour Portuguese forward Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid, following a mixed loan spell at Chelsea last season.
According to Marca, Aston Villa are the only club showing a strong interest in the forward, who is keen on leaving Atletico Madrid, and the Spanish side are said to not be standing in his way.
Joao Felix doesn’t seem too keen on the idea of signing for Emery’s side, however, with the star forward turning down the club back in January in favour of Chelsea, according to The Athletic.
Felix, according to the same report, wants to join a club with Champions League football and is setting his sights higher than that of Villa’s.
This is despite Villa achieving European football when they qualified for the Europa Conference League on the final day of the 2022/2023 season.
Aston Villa target Felix urging PSG to come forward
With that in mind, Felix, through his agents, is reportedly pushing for Paris Saint-Germain to come forward and put in an offer for the out-of-favour forward, who cost Atletico £113 million when he joined in 2019, according to Sky Sports.
According to Marca, Felix’s camp have contacted the French giants to drum up interest in the forward but it seems, for now, that PSG aren’t interested in pursuing a deal for the former Chelsea loanee.
Felix scored just four goals in 16 Premier League games for Chelsea and was infamously sent off on his Premier League debut against Fulham.
The former Benfica forward would be wrong to dismiss Emery’s Villa. Following the resurgence of Ollie Watkins under Emery, with 15 goals and six assists for Villa, Felix should consider the possibility that Emery could get the best out of him, too.
It would be a hasty decision for Felix to reject the West Midlands’ side advances so early on, and it may be a case of what’s available in the transfer market as not many teams have come forward for the 23-year-old.
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