A few years ago I would have been over the moon with this potential signing, and now I'm simply just indifferent. Felix is a temporary, possible solution to an issue that requires several improvements across the board to fix. He's a young exciting attack-minded player, arguably one of the most talented young players of the last 5 years or so, but, signing him at this point brings up an idea of panic and desperation. We're spending quite a lot, around £20m in total, for only a 6-month loan deal with no buy option.
It raises too many questions: Where does he fit into the team? Who does he switch with to get into the team? Is he the real 'answer' to improving our league position? This isn't the first time we've loaned an Atletico player whose career has been up in the air, that being said, What is his mentality, or his intensity going to be like when he arrives? Are we going to see a completely different player here than we have seen with him in Spain?
At the moment, and as I said after the City game, our personnel are too cowardly at times. We don't have the confidence to push forward or take risks with our passing or find that forward ball to score. We could have half a dozen quality attacking options, but it means nothing if there isn't support for them in the buildup. Otherwise, you end up with the situation we're in currently; our attacking players like Mount and Havertz are isolated, leaving us stuck trying to play out of defence. And again, against a team with such a harsh press like City, we're always going to struggle.
As a player, Felix feels relatively similar to Kai Havertz, is very versatile in positioning and has the ability to play a wide range of positions across the attack. We could make use of his creativity in attack, his passing and his dribbling when we move forward. Reece James is our most creative player, and we've seen first-hand that, as a team, we just aren't the same outfit without him. It's similar to years past when we've played without Eden Hazard in the team, or without Kante in the team in the early years.
Surely we want to utilise Joao as that creative outlet then, making those progressive decisions and finding the pass to our attacking options. That being said, it's a huge risk, it's a lot of money for a very short period, and at this point in the season, we need it to work out, as if it doesn't, we'll have carried on our old ways of spending far too much and not changing or improving enough.