Football Espana
·23 July 2024
Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Joao Felix, Takefusa Kubo and Javi Guerra
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·23 July 2024
Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.
On Joao Felix, I have no indication that Benfica and Atletico Madrid are on the same page for him, despite reports from Portugal. I think a Premier League side, such as Aston Villa, has a better chance of signing him.
Clearly, Felix wants to leave Atletico Madrid, and they want Felix to leave, but Atletico are asking for a sale not a loan. As we know, right now Barcelona are completely focused on Nico Williams, and Felix is a matter that is completely on hold for now – in fact, there are some doubts about what could happen with Felix from Barcelona’s point of view.
Now it’s true that his agent Jorge Mendes continues to maintain that avenue alive, because he knows that Joao would love to return to Barcelona, but there are a lot of doubts, and it could be a matter that is not resolved for some time.
In addition to the doubts on Barcelona’s end, there is a significant difference between what Barcelona are thinking about and what Atletico want, in terms of the formula. In recent days, Aston Villa have taken a strong interest in Felix, and Unai Emery would be delighted to have him, because he likes him a lot as a player.
We’ve reported here on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing that Felix has several suitors in the Premier League, and now it’s known that Aston Villa is one of them.
Real Sociedad star Takefusa Kubo was linked with Liverpool during the winter transfer window, and this week fresh reports have emerged about Liverpool potentially activating his €60m release clause. My information on this is that there is nothing concrete in the works, and I’m not aware of any talks with him over a move either.
It’s an old topic that has come up again, and from what I’ve been told, in recent hours, and in recent days, we should not expect anything imminent for Kubo.
The interest in Javi Guerra is a City Group matter – Girona made a first offer of €12m plus bonuses, which was rejected. They then made a second offer of €15m plus bonuses, which was also rejected. They tell me that Girona wanted to make a third offer, because they feel Javi Guerra interesting player for them, but right now, the talks are not in the final stages, nor is it a hot topic at the moment either. Another offer would be required in order for a deal to happen.
In recent days, Napoli also knocked on the door for him, but it was simply enquiries or sounding out the conditions, because talks are cold right now. It may be that a player like Guerra is liked by Sporting Director Giovanni Manna, or even manager Antonio Conte, but Napoli as a club are not as receptive to the idea of signing him.
We will see if another suitor emerges, but Guerra will be a name that has interest for the rest of the transfer market, and we will see if something happens with him in the coming weeks.