João Felix has hit back at Antoine Griezmann’s comments.
“Felix has hit back at comments made by Griezmann, his former Atletico Madrid teammate,” the British program ’90min’ reported on January 1 (KST).
Felix joined Atletico from Benfica in 2019, but his performances in Spain fell short of expectations, and he joined Chelsea on loan in the winter transfer window of the 2022-23 season.
Despite high expectations, he failed to make an impact at Chelsea. His final tally was four goals in 16 games. Felix eventually returned to Atletico without much fanfare.
He was criticized by fans for his off-the-cuff comments after his return. He said that he wanted to join Barcelona, their real rivals. His outrageous comments, coupled with the fact that he didn’t even show up in preseason, angered Atletico fans, who booed him when he was benched for the first leg against Granada.
But as Felix had hoped, Barcelona reached out. In September, Barcelona announced on its website that it had “agreed to loan Felix to the club until June 30, 2024. There is no option for a permanent transfer. We thank Felix for his desire to wear the Barcelona shirt,” the club announced. His annual salary will be €400,000 (approximately $573 million). Felix took a 90% pay cut from his previous salary to join Barcelona.
Felix’s move to the ‘Dream Club’ started off with a bang. After making his debut as a substitute against Osasuna in the fourth round, Felix started against Real Betis in the fifth round and scored his first goal. His resurgence continued with two goals and an assist against Antwerp in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) and another against Celta Vigo in the sixth round of the league. In 14 official appearances to date, Felix has been a consistent performer with four goals and three assists.
And now, Atletico “legend” Griezmann, who has been on fire this season, has spoken out about Felix. Speaking to Spain’s Marca, Griezmann said, “I’m tired of Felix adapting to Diego Simeone’s demands. He has done it well at times, but he needs to be more consistent.”
Felix himself weighed in on the matter. “Everyone has their own opinion, whether you agree with it or not, and I’m not going to comment on it,” he said, according to 90min. “There are things that could have been done better. There are things that I could have done better, and there are things that you could have done better, and there are things that didn’t work out. It’s not just one person’s fault. It’s a lot of people’s fault,” he added.