CEO officially confirms £125M Chelsea target ‘could be leaving’ after World Cup

Atletico Madrid chief executive Angel Gil Marin has admitted that Chelsea target Joao Felix could leave the Spanish club.

Felix came through the ranks at Benfica as a teenager and earned a move to Atletico in 2019 after smashing 20 goals in 43 games during his debut season with the Portuguese giants – numbers that alerted all the big clubs in world football

But although he has not produced those kind of numbers at Atletico – he has become a big part of the Spanish side and Felix’s talents have also seen him break into the Portugal team, where he has scored three times.

Felix put in a stellar performance in Portugal’s 6-1 win over Switzerland, setting up two goals in the last-16 clash, but there is still alot of speculation regarding his future at Madrid

The 23-year-old has started just one league game for Diego Simeone’s side since the start of September and Gil Marin says the “world-class” talent could move on next year.

Gil Marin told TVE: “I think he is a top world-class player, but because of the relationship with the coach, his playing time, his motivation… it’d be reasonable to analyze an option for him to depart if one arrives.

“It’s reasonable to think that he might leave, although I’d love him to stay. But, that’s not the player’s plan.”

The claims come after Diego Forlan encouraged the attacker to leave Madrid:  “Joao Felix is a very good player, he is young and has a lot of quality,” Forlan told reporters.