What Diego Simeone has already said about Joao Felix transfer decision amid Arsenal striker plan

Arsenal have been alerted to the availability of Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix, with Diego Simeone having reportedly changed his stance on the striker. The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium again, having previously garnered the interest of Mikel Arteta earlier this season.

The Gunners boss is said to be in the market for a new talisman following the exits of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And, football.london understand that Arsenal are interested in signing the Portugal international this summer.

According to BarcaTimes, Felix is no longer considered ‘non-transferable’ by Simeone and the striker’s agent is in contact with a number of clubs – one of whom is said to be Paris Saint-Germain. Speaking in March, the Atletico boss said: “Joao Felix meets what the team needs.

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“We have a way of working with the forwards. He’s doing very well, he’s happy, enthusiastic and it’s very important on an individual level so that he can later move on to the collective, which is what matters.”

But now, Simone seems to have had a change of heart, with the £103.7m-rated striker’s departure on the cards. He enjoyed his best campaign for Atletico this season, contributing eight goals and four assists in 24 La Liga appearances before injury ended his season prematurely in April.

Felix, whose contract at the Metropolitano Stadium expires in 2026, was named the Spanish giants’ player of the season in May, though is still yet to hit the heights expected of him since arriving in 2019 from Benfica for an eye-watering £114million. Arsenal reportedly face competition from PSG – among several other clubs too – but don’t have Champions League qualification in their corner.

Despite this, Arteta is still said to be interested in signing Felix. An, the Spaniard’s proposed overhaul – similar to last year’s £150million summer splurge – could emerge as a lucrative selling point. When asked if he expects another busy transfer window in terms of player recruitment, he said: “I am expecting so, yes. I think both competitions [the Champions League and Europa League] require a much larger squad because the amount of games you play is much bigger in both, so I don’t think [which you qualify for] makes a lot of difference or changes a lot.

“If you can financially afford it and we don’t have to do the turnaround in the squad that we’ve had to do, if you ask me what I want it’s 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers. You have to come a long way in the aspects that you see on the pitch, it’s a lot of things that have to be put in place, and that takes time.”

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