Owen Hargreaves has told BT Sport – as per Football 365 – that Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix is good enough to start for either Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City. Atletico’s defensive style stifled the attacker on Tuesday.
Felix, 22, joined Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2019 from Benfica for a fee believed to be in the region of £113million (BBC). Since then, he has clocked up 108 appearances for Atleti – but has only managed 29 goals.
This season, he has scored 10 goals and laid on six assists – already the same stats as last term and better than what he did in 2019-20. But it Diego Simeone’s style clearly does not get the best out of his attacking stars.
While they work hard, Atleti only managed 30% possession and failed to produce a single shot on Ederson’s goal on Tuesday night. Hargreaves agrees with this belief, suggesting Felix would shine for England’s top three.
“I think you watch him and go, ‘he gets into the Liverpool team, he gets into the City team, or the Chelsea team’. His upside is that good. He (Felix) will get a chance to play in a top team, because he’s that good,” Hargreaves said.
Hargreaves on Felix: Which of the three would he suit best?
Manchester City are renowned for their numerous attacking talents and Felix would fit right at home alongside the likes of Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez. But his game time would reduce.
At Liverpool, Felix’s ability as a false nine could be tempting for Jurgen Klopp. Roberto Firmino is out of contract in June 2023 and Liverpool could do a lot worse than replacing the Brazilian with Felix.
But of the three, a move to Chelsea would be best for Felix. Kai Havertz has been good, but not great – while Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku have struggled. AS say he has a release clause worth £292million.
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