Man Utd & Atletico Madrid respond to claims of mammoth Joao Felix bid

Atletico Madrid have responded to rumours of Manchester United interest in star forward Joao Felix, describing the Portugal international as ‘priceless’ in a social media post.

A report in Spain on Wednesday claimed that United had made an offer for Felix worth €130m (£110m), which it was alleged was not even entertained by Atletico.

Sources close to United have told 90min that there is no truth to the story, though the club are working hard to bring in a number of high-profile targets for under-pressure boss Erik ten Hag.

Atletico’s stance, judging by a post on their official Twitter account, is that United wouldn’t be able to sign Felix even if they wanted to – a picture of the young Portuguese forward was simply captioned with the word ‘Priceless’ on Wednesday night.

Felix has a €350m (£296m) release clause inserted into his Atletico contract, which is still the same one he signed when he first joined the club from Benfica in 2019.

The 22-year-old has had a mixed few years with Los Rojiblancos, initially ousting Antoine Griezmann but now a teammate of the Frenchman, but he actually scored against Manchester United in the Champions League last season and began 2022/23 with a hat-trick of assists in La Liga.

The Old Trafford club continue to struggle in the transfer market. They moved relatively quickly to equip Ten Hag with Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez, but it has been clear in recent weeks that the ‘open heart surgery’ recommended by former interim boss Ralf Rangnick is still absolutely necessary and has barely started.

90min understands that Ten Hag is not satisfied with the options in his squad and wants five more new signings before the transfer deadline on 1 September – two midfielders, a striker, winger and right-back. A handful of players, including Eric Bailly and James Garner, could also leave.