Manchester United are ‘monitoring’ Joao Félix’s performances while on loan at Chelsea ahead of a possible move in the summer.
That’s according to Mundo Deportivo, who say the Portuguese star is a ‘long-held desire’ for United and a player they could move for in their hunt for a centre-forward.
The Reds are expected to spend big improving that area of their team at the end of the season, having allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to leave before the World Cup and not replaced him.
They signed Wout Weghorst on loan in January and that has worked well for them so far but there is an acceptance he is not the long-term solution to their need for a striker.
Thus, they have been linked with several in the last few months and Felix is one of them, with journalist Sergio Picos stating earlier this month that they had asked about him.
Mundo back that up, stating that they have long been interested in Félix and remain so, monitoring his performances at Stamford Bridge since January.
They see the player as the ‘cornerstone’ on which they can continue to rebuild under Erik ten Hag and the hope is that Atlético Madrid will agree to a ‘favourable deal’ to get him out of the Wanda Metropolitano.
Whether the Spanish side will, though, is debatable. That’s because they want to recoup as much as possible of what they invested in Félix, which was €127m.
An ‘idyllic’ offer would be in the region of €140m but that does not seem very realistic given his struggles under Diego Simeone and failure to light up the Premier League so far.
That means a fee of around €100m would be more realistic if Atlético do want to move any possible deal forward.
Whether Manchester United would be willing to pay that fee remains to be seen but given it is also the price being touted for the likes of Victor Osimhen and Harry Kane, it’s one they won’t be too shocked by.
For now, it appears they are just watching how Félix performs in London before deciding whether to step forward and compete for his signature.
