Newcastle now want to sign £87m forward this summer, they could agree a bargain fee

Add as preferred source on Google

Newcastle United are expected to try and sign Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid this summer with the Spanish club hoping to move the Portuguese forward on permanently.

Joao Felix is currently on loan at Chelsea from Atletico Madrid but the Spanish side are hoping they can find a more permanent deal for 23-year-old this summer.

Diego Simeone and Joao Felix are not seeing eye-to-eye and it was expected that only one of them would remain at the club next season and it looks like that will be Simeone with Newcastle looking to offer Felix a way out.

Reports from Spain suggest Newcastle could make their move for Felix

A report from Marca (via Sports Witness) has now suggested that Newcastle may be the club at the front of the queue for the Portuguese international.

Felix had made no secret of his desire to play in the Premier League and while he’s not set the competition alight since his January loan move to Chelsea, he has bagged three goals in just 14 appearances. Although he’s also managed to bag himself a red card too.

Chelsea are said to be keen to keep Felix, but with Newcastle set to qualify for Champions League and Chelsea missing out on any form of European competition, the Magpies may feel they can steal a march on their Premier League rivals.

Madrid valued Felix at £87million, but given the situation between him and Simeone, it’s expected that Newcastle could shave a considerable percentage off that valuation, or even offer a loan with option to buy deal.

Felix is an excellent player but his attitude may be an issue

Felix, who is a ‘special player’ according to Kieran Trippier, would be a statement signing for Newcastle, especially stealing him from under Chelsea’s nose. It can’t really be held against him not performing for the Blues, nobody else has so it would be unfair to single him out.

He performed better for Atletico in the first half of the season despite the friction between him and the boss, and even though he wasn’t a regular starter for Simeone, he still managed four goals and three assists in 14 appearances in La Liga.

Joao Felix falls into that young and experienced category which Eddie Howe will love, but of course, given the situation with Simeone, there will be question marks over his attitude. Ally McCoist also voiced concerns about him before his move to Chelsea saying he can do ‘brilliant‘ things but lacks consistency.

If Dan Ashworth and Eddie Howe can be assured that his head is on straight and this thing with Simeone is an isolated thing, then Newcastle may just push to make this one happen. Training a player to be consistent is what Howe does, so there should be no worries there.