According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, Arsenal may have one major “advantage” when it comes to trying to sign Atletico Madrid star Joao Felix during the January transfer window.
According to Spanish publication AS (via Sport Witness), Mikel Arteta’s men are interested in signing the Portuguese forward as they aim to strengthen before a crucial second half of the season.
The report states that the La Liga outfit are demanding a transfer fee north of €100m (£86m) in order to let Felix leave the Wanda Metropolitano.
O’Rourke spoke to Football FanCast regarding Arsenal’s interest in the 23-year-old.
He stated: “There’s a lot of interest in Joao Felix, who does seem like he will be leaving Atletico Madrid in this window and I’m sure the chance to move to Arsenal and the chance to possibly win the Premier League title and also an opportunity to move to London is very attractive to a lot of foreign players as well.
So yes, if Arsenal do follow up on their interest in Felix, they probably have an advantage over some of their other rivals.”
This is great news for Arteta and Arsenal, and signing someone with the quality of Felix would be a massive statement of intent by the north London club.
Indeed, compared to positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues, Felix ranks in the top 20% for non-penalty goals, assists, shot-creating actions, progressive passes, and dribbles completed, showing just how effective he can be in the attacking third, and he could give Arsenal an added spark.
The 23-year-old isn’t just limited to one position either, possessing an excellent versatility which enables him to feature across the front three where required. He could even fill the centre-forward void left by Gabriel Jesus, who suffered an injury at the World Cup which will rule him out for a number of weeks.
Renato Paiva, Felix’s former youth coach at Benfica, lavished praise on the player, saying: “He has enormous football intelligence. He reads situations really quickly. Obviously, a player has to have quality to be at Benfica in the first place but he had something extra – creativity, a little bit of magic.
“He read the game with great lucidity and matched that with the speed and quality of his execution. His understanding of the game was miles ahead of that of his team-mates.”
Arteta shouldn’t miss an opportunity to sign a player with this much talent, especially when Arsenal may hold a significant advantage over other suitors, and luring him to London might just be the catalyst which is required to end their 19-year wait for a Premier League title.