23-year-old Atletico star not among the ‘Dembele alternatives’ for Barcelona
The possibility of Ousmane Dembele leaving Barcelona continues to increase as the hours go by, with La Blaugrana now certain that the Catalan club will need to be prepared to move in for a possible alternative in the scenario that the Frenchman ends up departing.
The various names that have come up in recent reports have suggested that some of the biggest stars in European football remain on the radar of FC Barcelona should Dembele depart as expected.
However, as has been emphasized by Spanish outlet SPORT in a recent report, Atletico Madrid forward and Portugal National team star Joao Felix is strictly not being considered by Barcelona as one of their likely targets to pursue in the scenario of Dembele’s departure.
As per the report, Barcelona and Xavi Hernandez believe that the profile they need for Dembele’s replacement is that of a traditional winger, with the ability to deconstruct defenses and bring creativity to the frontline. This is something that they consider Joao Felix to be quite dissimilar from.
Moreover, the economic issues that concern such a transfer are also considered to be unfeasible by FC Barcelona. The demands of Atletico would already be beyond the means of a Barcelona side unwilling to invest such an amount for the likes of Joao Felix, and that would be accompanied by other requests from the Madrid-based club.
Asking for the amortization of the player to be covered as well, Barcelona are against such a proposal by Atletico and instead wish for the player’s club to cover his salary and amortization themselves rather than shift that burden onto Barcelona.
As it stands, the arrival of the 23-year-old to FC Barcelona remains highly unlikely and is one that the coaching staff nor the economic reality of the club would be willing to facilitate.
He is not considered to be the right fit for the club in light of them looking for a replacement for their departing French winger, one that Xavi Hernandez has fought publicly for in order to retain and utilize at Barcelona.
