Joao Felix is important piece of our team but I’m open to everything, reveals Diego Simeone

Having arrived for a hefty €126 million in the summer of 2019, the onus has been on Joao Felix to put his best foot forward but the young forward has struggled to thrive for Atletico Madrid. Instead, a combination of injuries, lack of form and competition for places has seen Felix fail to consistently make the team-sheet with him scoring just 20 goals since arriving from Benfica. That does include a ten goal season last term as Atletico Madrid lifted the La Liga title but he hasn’t kicked on since.

So far, Felix has scored just once across 13 appearances for the club with game-time coming sparingly thanks to the summer arrivals of Matheus Cunha and Antoine Griezmann. It has seen reports indicate that the 22-year-old is looking to leave the club in January and Diego Simeone has refused to rule out the possibility that he might leave. The Atletico boss did admit that Felix is a key part of his team but needs to maintain his form and consistently perform for the club.

"I always understand everything, I'm open to everything. The most important thing is the team. Joao is an important piece of our team. He has to repeat performances like the one he gave the other day at the Bernabeu," Simeone said, reported Goal.

"He played 30-35 minutes and showed all the talent he has. Let's hope he repeats it, because that's the player we need. I've spoken a lot with him. I don't have anything to explain to you about what needs to be worked on inside.

"Seeing Joao for just a few minutes, you realise he's a great player. He's going through a situation of growth, we've seen it with Portugal and maybe here too. It's about maturing and growing to find the consistency that football demands," he added.