Erik ten Hag is on the hunt for a new centre forward following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo following his explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
Many names have been linked with a transfer to the Red Devils, including many forwards currently impressing at Qatar 2022, such as Portugal’s Felix.
The 23-year-old started his country’s opening two games, alongside Ronaldo and United star Bruno Fernandes, scoring in the 3-2 win over Ghana, though he was rested for the final group game, a 2-1 loss to South Korea, on Friday
Winner of the Golden Boy award in 2019, Felix was tipped for stardom after breaking through at Benfica and moving to Atletico for €126million (£113m) – the fifth most expensive transfer in history.
However, it’s not been plain sailing in Madrid, with the forward yet to really reach those lofty expectations in Diego Simeone’s more pragmatic, defence-orientated side, with 51 goal involvements in 129 appearances so far.
Felix has been linked with a move away before and Forlan believes that that would be the best thing for the player.
‘Joao Felix is a very good player, he is young and has a lot of quality,’ the former United and Uruguay forward said after Portugal’s 2-0 win over Uruguay last Monday.
‘They [Atletico] paid a lot of money for him and he has not been playing as expected, but he is still very young.
‘There are reports coming out about the possibility of him leaving Atletico and, if he leaves, he could even increase his performance. I believe in that.
‘It happens a lot. It happened, for example, with Philippe Coutinho, who played very little at Inter and when he went to Liverpool he improved a lot.’
The reports linking Felix to United have become more frequent in recent days, with The Times claiming that Atletico are prepared to sell the player, with his relationship with Simeone now at an all time low.
However, the La Liga giants still want to recoup as much money as they can, which could force Ten Hag to pay around €100m (£87m) for his services.
For now, Felix will be preparing for Portugal’s World Cup round of 16 clash with Switzerland on Tuesday night.
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