Diego Simeone drops Joao Felix transfer hint as he speaks out on situation

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone was once again asked about Aston Villa transfer target Joao Felix, after the Portuguese started the Spanish side’s latest pre-season friendly.

Simeone named Felix in his starting line-up as Atletico beat Kitchee FC 6-1 in Hong Kong on Thursday. And he was asked about the player’s situation amid expectation he will leave Madrid this summer.

“He is in the squad in the same conditions as his teammates and we will value him for his work, his effort and performance and what he can give in his competition with his teammates,” said Simeone. “We think of the club and the team and that’s how it will be until the day he is with us.”

Simeone was previously asked about Felix’s future after he scored in an earlier pre-season friendly against Getafe. “He played well in the 45 minutes he got against Getafe. He’s an Atlético Madrid player, and as long as he’s here, we’ll value him based on how he works, just like we do with everyone else on the team,” he said.

Asked about Villa’s interest in Felix, boss Unai Emery said last week: “Of course, we are always being with the possibility to add players improving our squad in different positions, we have to be ready to do it. But with the players we have now, we can sign one or two players more. It depends if someone is leaving.

“The idea is that the structure we have now, even the players we have today and the players coming back, I think we have players that will be competitive this year playing in the Champions League and the other cups we will face.

“Some players we are following in case we have the possibility to sign them, but I don’t want to speak specifically about players.”