In an interview with AS, former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan was asked for his opinion on Joao Felix’s imminent move to Atletico Madrid for 120 million euros.
Forlan said: “It’s impressive!" The sums we are talking about are not like those of the past.”
“It demonstrates the growth of the club at all levels. There is a new stadium, many fans that watch the women’s team... Being able to buy for these amounts and sell well provides the opportunity to grow.”
Meanwhile, former goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, when asked on ESPN if he felt this was a good buy for Atletico, said: “I think so, for a number of reasons. There aren’t many young talents like Joao Felix coming through, heavily courted and reported to have a lot of interest from a lot of big clubs across Europe at only 19 years old.”
“With a 120 million euro buy-out clause, you can understand why some of those clubs were a little bit sceptical. At the same time, you can understand why Atletico Madrid have been as prepared as they are to put that kind of money on the table.”
“It’s a hefty price tag… there are still a lot of rough edges about his game, but I think Atletico Madrid have shown that they can smooth out those edges and turn talents like his into world beaters.”
“This ticks a lot of boxes for me, both from Joao Felix’s perspective, and from Atletico Madrid’s. Just look at the successes Atletico Madrid have had with their strikers, how good they’ve been, how good they’ve made them. This makes perfect sense.”
On the same show, Liverpool legend Steve Nicol was not so confident, saying: “If he was going to [Real] Madrid or Barca, I would say it was going to be easier for him. But he’s going to a team that pretty much generally are thought of as not an attacking side… this guy’s used to playing in a team that’s the best team in the league and he can just go where he wants and do what he wants.”
“So as a 19 year old, to go into a side that is kind of the opposite to what he’s used to, how’s his head going to get round that?”