After releasing Ansu Fati and Ez Abde in the latter weeks of the summer transfer window in 2023, Barcelona only had Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Ferran Torres as their first-team attackers in the roster. This was a significant gamble for Barcelona to take.
This came as a result of Ousmane Dembele leaving to join Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €50 million, which left the team’s assault in a very precarious position.
In the final few days of the transfer window, the club made it a priority to acquire another forward, and they found a solution to their problem in the form of Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid. He was sent to the team on loan for the length of the 2023–2024 season, but there was no option to buy him.
The Portuguese player was heading to Chelsea after having a less-than-stellar season on loan there, so the expectations were not very high for him. However, Felix has gotten off to a fantastic start in his new life at Barcelona, where he has already contributed three goals and two assists in nine games played.
According to a report by SPORT, the Blaugranes are equally as impressed with the player and have already reached a written agreement with Atletico Madrid on a transfer fee of €80 million for his permanent move in 2024.
Due to significant financial difficulties, Barcelona will not be able to pay Atleti that amount up front during the summer, and the club is currently mulling over two potential solutions to this issue.
Repayment through instalments or a subsequent loan
To begin, Barcelona is considering breaking up the payment of that sum into three installments, each of which would be approximately 25 million euros in value.
Even though this would make the transfer “a little less impossible,” Barcelona still believes that spending €80 million on just one player is not in the club’s best interest even though it would make the transfer “a little less impossible.”
Therefore, the second way in which Barcelona can end up getting Felix is if they reach an agreement with Atletico on another loan spell, with the obligation to buy him in the summer of 2025. This would be the only scenario in which Barcelona could wind up signing Felix.
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This procedure would most certainly need Barcelona to spend considerably more than the salary of €400,000 that they are currently paying to him. Additionally, it could force Barcelona’s hand and oblige them to pay a loan fee, similar to what Chelsea did last season.
According to the report, Felix may be available for somewhere around €40 million in this scenario, which is a situation that is far more reasonable for Barcelona to consider.
