Manchester United have allegedly been told that Atletico Madrid are willing to listen to offers for Portuguese attacker Joao Felix in 2023.
The 22-year-old was linked with a move to Old Trafford over the summer, with the Red Devils believed to have failed with a big-money offer for the forward, as the club looked to sign a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Man United ultimately kept hold of Ronaldo, which did not make a new striker a necessity, but the English giants are widely expected to spend big on a new centre-forward next year.
Felix has found it difficult to make his mark for Atletico during the 2022-23 campaign, managing only two goals and three assists in 16 appearances in all competitions.
The Portugal international still has another four years left to run on the contract that he signed at Wanda Metropolitano upon his arrival from Benfica in July 2019.
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However, according to Cadena SER, Atletico are now willing to consider offers for the attacker despite deeming him to be 'untouchable' during the summer transfer window.
The report claims that the Spanish club's failure to qualify for the knockout round of the Champions League or the Europa League has caused them financial problems, which would be eased if Felix left in a big-money deal.
The forward's relationship with Atletico boss Diego Simeone is also said to be strained, as he has struggled to earn regular starts during the 2022-23 campaign.
Felix has only been in the starting XI on five occasions in La Liga this season, while he featured from the first whistle in just three of their six Champions League group-stage fixtures.
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"The team is really good and the reality is another thing, the field of play. And in the reality of the field of play the thing is there's a manager who picks the best players as a result of what he sees," Simeone recently told reporters when asked about the forward's lack of starts.
"Do you think I'm not playing Joao to lose? No manager does that. When he starts to play well again in training, he works, he recovers his goalscoring touch, which we need, he will play.
"But while I'm here, it's about performance, that's why his other teammates are playing. It's clear that each time he was good, he played."
Felix has scored 31 goals and registered 18 assists in 127 appearances for Atletico, following on from the 20 goals and 11 assists that he managed in 43 games for Benfica before moving to the Spanish capital.
Bayern Munich have also been heavily linked with the Portuguese, and a recent report claimed that the German champions had an £85m bid for him rejected during the summer transfer window.
Matt Law
