Arsenal and Manchester United battle each other as talks for star forward reaches ‘final’ stages: Reports

Arsenal and Manchester United are in advanced talks with football agent Jorge Mendes over the transfer of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, according to French outlet Le 10 Sport.

Atletico Madrid signed Felix from Portuguese club Benfica for a whopping €127 million in 2019. The attacker still has three-and-a-half years remaining on the seven-year deal he signed that summer.

However, the Portugal international has seemingly fallen out of favor under Diego Simeone this season. He has only started five of Atletico Madrid's 14 La Liga matches so far this campaign.

With Felix and Simeone no longer on good terms, Los Rojiblancos are said to be prepared to let the player leave in January. Angel Gil Marin, the club's CEO, even confirmed their willingness to sell the forward earlier this month. He said:

"Joao Felix has top level but because of his relationship with Simeone and game time… we feel that makes sense to consider potential bids to sell him. I’d love for Joao to continue, but this is the current situation."

PSG were earlier mooted as a potential destination for the 23-year-old due to his agent Mendes' relationship with the club's advisor Luis Campos. However, Les Parisiens are not eyeing a move for the Atletico Madrid man, according to the aforementioned source.

Felix has thus been tipped to swap the La Liga giants for a Premier League club in the near future. As per the report, Arsenal and Manchester United are battling it out with each other to acquire his services.

Le 10 Sport has claimed that the Gunners and the Red Devils are in 'final' talks with Mendes over a deal for Felix. It now remains to be seen who among the two clubs will acquire his services.

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Arsenal and Manchester United are in the market for a new forward

Not many top European clubs prefer to do transfer business in the winter transfer window. However, Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United are expected to bolster their ranks in January this time around.

The Gunners are tempted to bring in a new forward after Gabriel Jesus suffered an injury during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Having picked up a knee injury, the Brazilian is expected to be sidelined for a significant amount of time.

Erik ten Hag's side, on the other hand, have a void to fill after they terminated their deal with Cristiano Ronaldo. They could now replace the five-time Ballon d'Or winner by signing one of his Portugal teammates in Felix.