If you thought you had a few months before hearing outrageous transfer rumors, well, you clearly haven’t been a Paris Saint-Germain fan long enough. Just as soon as the summer transfer window closed, the rumor mill is already churning out some juicy speculation for next summer and it involves João Félix, Neymar Jr., and Kylian Mbappé—I told you it was juicy.
If PSG were to lose both Neymar and Mbappé next summer, they’ll obviously be flush with cash from the sale of their two biggest stars and they’ll have a giant hole in their roster. Their plan, according to a report from Don Balon, would be to try and sign Félix from Atlético Madrid for somewhere in the neighborhood of €200 million, which is considerably higher than the €126 million figure (Transfermarkt) Atléti paid S.L. Benfica for his services last summer.
The rumor shouldn’t come as a shock and it’s not a far-fetched as you might think. In April of 2018, O Jogo reported that PSG was rumored to be interested in signing Félix along with several other clubs. At the time, PSG’s sporting director was Antero Henrique, who is well-versed in Portuguese football and would have been very familiar with Félix’s potential. As a PSG supporter, I have my doubts that he could actually pull off the signing but the interest was certainly there.
Speaking to Tuttosport earlier this year, Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira called Félix one of the best talents to emerge from Portugal since Cristiano Ronaldo and the striker is already off to a fast start with Atlético scoring three goals and recording one assist in nine games so far. Last season, he became the youngest footballer ever (19 years 153 days) to score a hat-trick in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.
It remains to be seen if PSG’s new sporting director Leonardo rates the Portugal international and if he would be willing to splash the cash on such a young talent. During last summer’s transfer window, Leonardo looked for bargain deals (Idrissa Gueye and Abdou Diallo) and loan options (Ander Herrera and Mauro Icardi) and moved away from the “big signing” PSG has grown to be known for. That being said, PSG has always looked to sign stars during the Qatar Sports Investments era and signing the “Next Ronaldo” would certainly fit the club’s profile.
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