Manchester United and Manchester City reportedly both turned down the chance to sign Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid before his move to Barcelona.
Amid the breakdown in his relationship with Rojiblancos head coach Diego Simeone, Felix made no bones about his desire to join the Catalonian giants over the summer.
The attacker's wish was eventually granted, as he arrived at Camp Nou on a season-long loan until the summer of 2024 to replace Paris Saint-Germain-bound Ousmane Dembele.
Felix has made an immediate impression at Barcelona with three goals and two assists from five matches in all competitions, including a brace in their opening Champions League triumph over Royal Antwerp last week.
In a quintet of games with Barcelona, Felix has already contributed to more goals than he did in 20 appearances for Chelsea in the second half of the 2022-23 season, where he netted four times and did not provide a single assist.
Despite his underwhelming time at Stamford Bridge, it was reported that Man United - who were prioritising the signing of a new striker - were ready to reignite their interest after losing out to Chelsea in the race for his signature in January.
However, former Portugal winger Paulo Futre - who played over 200 times for Atletico - recently lifted the lid on his summer conversations with Felix's agent Jorge Mendes, whom he came to blows with over his compatriot's public desire to join Barcelona.
Speaking to Cadena Ser's El Larguero, Futre revealed that Mendes denied being behind Felix's comments about Barcelona, and the attacker's agent also failed to convince Man United or Man City to take a punt on Felix.
"When Joao said he dreamed of playing for Barça I began to live a nightmare that lasts to this day. I called him [Mendes] and told him that the statements that Joao had made were his doing and he said no," Futre said.
"We argued on the phone and he told me that he had spoken to Manchester United. I verified what he told me because I have friends and it was true. Later he had spoken with Manchester City, I also checked and they didn't want Joao either.
Futre also confirmed that Aston Villa were the only Premier League team with a concrete interest in signing Felix, but the former Benfica man turned his nose up to a move to Unai Emery's side.
The 57-year-old also played down the rift between Felix and Simeone as a regular occurrence in the spot, adding: "What happened between João and Cholo [Diego Simeone] happens every day in football. It's something normal.
"What is not normal is that phenomenal coaches knew that João was a genius (...) he entered their game system, but nobody wanted him. Neither [Mikel] Arteta, nor [Pep] Guardiola, nor [Jurgen] Klopp, any club... My question is why?
"The only team that has wanted him has been Aston Villa. Joao said no when there was an agreement between Atleti and Aston Villa at the beginning of July."
Felix has amassed 34 goals and 18 assists in 131 games for Atletico since his £110.7m move from Benfica in 2019, and he remains contracted to the Madrid giants for another six years. body check tags ::
