João Félix joins FC Barcelona on loan

In the middle of July, a report surfaced from Fabrizio Romano that Athletico Madrid forward João Félix dreamed of playing for Barcelona. At the time Barca was struggling to complete deals that would allow them to register their free signings, let alone bring in anyone else.

Fast-forward a month and a half, and patience paid off. Yesterday, it was revealed that Félix would join Barcelona on loan for the 2023/24 season. It’s a simple and straightforward deal, reportedly there is no loan fee, nor is there an option to make the deal permanent.

Félix signed a new deal with Madrid yesterday lowering his salary, this enabled Barcelona to cover 100% of it and made the deal possible. In their statement announcing the deal, Barca thanked Félix for his financial sacrifice.

Félix joins after a difficult summer with Atlético

Félix spent the 2023 season on loan in London with Chelsea scoring 4 goals in 16 appearances. Chelsea suffered one of their worst seasons in recent memory last year finishing 12th in the Premier League.

Félix returned to his parent club this summer but failed to get on the same page as Diego Simeone, which may have prompted the desire to leave.

With his future up in the air, Félix has failed to see the pitch for Atlético this year, and I’m sure he’ll be looking for a fresh start this season with Barcelona who have started the season with two wins and a draw.

The former Benfica man is a versatile forward who can play a number of positions. He can work as a main striker, or on either wing, but his best position is perhaps as a shadow striker.

He’s made 119 appearances in that position, and I’m sure Xavi may be eyeing that role for Félix behind Robert Lewandowski.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Xavi uses Félix this season considering reports surfaced indicating that he did not see him fitting into his preferred style of play.

In 238 professional domestic appearances, the Portuguese striker has scored 72 goals with 35 assists.