While the interest from FC Barcelona remains consistent in acquiring the best possible talents to reinforce their side on a regular basis, there are some cases in which the Catalans can do little else but leave their pursuit of the player.
Such is the case of the latest transfer target of FC Barcelona, as his signing is now reportedly considered much more complicated than initially thought.
The player in question is the current Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, whose recent public statement regarding wanting to join Barcelona and calling them his dream club for a long time, prompted the Catalans to test the waters and check just how feasible his potential signing could be.
However, as reported by Spanish Journalist Helena Condis Edo of Cope, the 23-year-old will most likely not be joining FC Barcelona any time soon due to the complications that have arisen on the economic front for the Catalan club. Consequently, they are currently unable to afford the Portuguese star.
Back when he was brought in to Atletico Madrid in the first place from SL Benfica, the player came in for a record fee that exceeded the €100 million mark and became the most expensive player in Atletico Madrid’s history at the time.
As a result, the Madrid-based club is not willing to let go of their expensive asset for a low fee and instead would prefer to negotiate only on the basis of receiving a sizeable transfer fee in return for offloading the 23-year-old forward to any interested side. In the particular case of Barcelona, Atletico have never been an easy negotiating partner.
Furthermore, the report claims that the player was not particularly a priority for Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez, as there already exists a surplus of attacking options at FC Barcelona, and the Catalan coach believes that signing another forward would be unnecessary.
It remains to be seen what other targets Barcelona do end up pursuing, given that the need for a specialist right-back is still apparent, and the coach is speculated to have a few names in mind that he would like to bring to Barcelona in order to better prepare the side for the upcoming 2023/2024 season.
