FC Barcelona decided to put a hold on their plans of signing Joao Felix on a permanent deal as the club is worried about the Portuguese’s form, reported Spanish news outlet SPORT on Tuesday.
Felix, who was signed on a loan deal from Atletico Madrid, is struggling to find the back of the net as in the last 15 matches, the 24-year-old only managed to strike thrice.
With the Spanish Super Cup starting from January 10 and the UEFA Champions League knockout beginning in February, the club needs every player at his absolute best so the club can remain alive in all competitions till the end.
Despite a great start to life at the Blaugrana, scoring two goals and providing as many assists in the first four matches, the Portuguese failed to carry on the form and started underperforming, making things difficult for Xavi to keep his team’s attack intact.
Barcelona were planning to discuss Felix’s contract length with his entourage in the January window but the Portuguese’s recent dip in form put a hold on that.
It is worth mentioning that during the summer when Barcelona were trying to sign Felix on a loan deal, there were different opinions inside the club with one of them being Xavi.
In the summer, there were reports that while Xavi acknowledged Felix’s attacking qualities, he was not content with the 24-year-old defensive work rate.
Xavi wants his team to defend with all the players in transition and that is one of the reasons why former Barcelona plyer, Ansu Fati, often failed to make it to the starting XI and was ultimately sent on loan to the Premier League club, Brighton.
It must be noted that lack of defensive input was one of the biggest reasons why Felix failed to become a success at Atletico despite the club paying a record fee of €126 million for him.