Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has insisted Portuguese forward Joao Felix has a future at the Spanish La Liga side.
The manager said this following Chelsea’s rejection of the chance to sign the forward on a permanent deal.
Felix, who was signed by Atletico for £113 million (€126m) from Benfica in 2019, spent the second half of last season on loan at Stamford Bridge having struggled to establish himself in Diego Simeone’s side.
Following reports of a rift between Felix and Simeone, the Portugal international was allowed to join Chelsea on loan in the January transfer window for the remainder of the season.
Mauricio Pochettino, who was announced as the new boss at Chelsea this week, does not want the services of the 23-year-old meaning there will be no permanent deal for him in west London.
Atletico are still actively looking to sell Felix before the start of next season but Simeone is adamant that he would welcome the forward back into his squad.
“Joao is an Atletico Madrid player who, if he does not have a place at Chelsea, as Pochettino apparently said, he will have to come to Atletico de Madrid, he will have to work with us again, and obviously we will be willing to give him the best for that he can improve in what we believe is important,” Simeone said in an interview with El Partidazo de COPE.