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Joao Felix has been tagged as a ‘generational talent with mentality problems’ as the wheels threaten to come off his loan at Barcelona – despite a 900% per cent pay rise.
The Chelsea flop is enduring a poor run of form and is unfancied for the Supercopa de Espana semi-final against Osasuna on Thursday.
He had a promising start at Barca – his ‘dream’ club – but familiar signs are re-emerging for the trickster cast aside by Atletico Madrid.
That’s despite his salary being multiplied tenfold to more than £3.4million now that Barcelona have more financial wiggle room.
Barca managed to register the 24-year-old on small change for a top-level player due to their financial struggles but had to elevate his wage when their bank balance allowed.
Joao Felix is reportedly struggling with his mentality and is losing the confidence of Xavi at Barcelona
Familiar signs are re-emerging for the 24-year-old, who shows sizzling ability on the ball but less application than his team-mates off it
SPORT reports that Felix is struggling to shake his reputation as an inconsistent player and that Xavi is increasingly in favour of Ferran Torres and Raphinha for their pressing abilities and application, even if he is making some effort.
His nosediving form has coincided with that of Barca, who are now seven points off LaLiga frontrunners Real Madrid and Girona and only scraped into the Copa del Rey last 16 with a scrappy 3-2 win over fourth tier outfit Basbastro.
Against minnows Barbastro, Felix cut a frustrated figure after having a goal disallowed for offside, losing the ball 15 times and denying Torres the chance to take a free-kick.
While he could pin his fluctuating form at Atletico Madrid on his incompatability with Diego Simeone’s strict tactics, the same cannot be said at Barca and the debate has shifted onto his mentality, SPORT claims.
He was left out of Xavi’s starting line-up for Barca’s 2-1 win at Las Palmas in their most recent LaLiga game.
Now it looks as if former Manchester City player Torres could be given the nod on the left flank for their Osasuna assignment.
Xavi is reportedly more impressed with Ferran Torres and he could start against Osasuna on Thursday
Barcelona’s boss has been more willing to wield the scythe with big names in recent weeks as he comes under increasing pressure
Xavi has shown himself to be more brutal and disregarding of big names in recent weeks.
He subbed off Robert Lewandowski against Las Palmas despite keeping him on incessantly in previous games, even if his performances have merited a change.
The Barca boss has already handed a couple of outings to 18-year-old Vitor Roque, a promising youngster signed from Brazilian side Athletico Paranaense.
Felix has had a decent campaign overal at Barca, with six goals and three assists in 21 games, but will be eager to recapture his best form sooner rather than later.
Over the summer, he was forced to train with Atletico’s academy for at least some of pre-season as he was frozen out by hard taskmaster Simeone.
Felix is under pressure to impress at Barcelona for the shop window as Diego Simeone, his boss at parent club Atletico Madrid, does not seem keen to have him around
That indicates the regard in which he is held by the Argentinian coach, who signed a contract extension until 2027 in November.
It is understood that the Portuguese winger’s loan deal at Barca does not include an option to buy, meaning he is effectively playing to impress potential suitors in the summer – or somehow work his way back into Simeone’s good books.
Atletico signed him for a staggering £114m in 2019 from Benfica and handed him the precious No 7 shirt that had been graced by Antoine Griezmann before him.
However, after he becam the fourth most expensive player in history at the time, he has not delivered on the abundant promise he showed in Portugal, where he scored 20 goals in his final season.
