On June 30, Barça released an official statement announcing Felix’s loan deal had ended and he would be leaving, only to later delete the announcement. A similar situation occurred with Cancelo, suggesting Barça might have been exploring the possibility of extending both players’ loans for another season. Recently, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo shed light on some details surrounding Felix’s loan move to Barça last summer.
At that time, Barça President Joan Laporta was keen on signing Felix, and the club worked on the deal for several weeks. However, due to Barça’s limited remaining salary space, which couldn’t accommodate Felix’s wages (then €8 million annually at Atlético), the registration process was hindered, pushing the transfer to the last day of the window. When Felix learned of the issue, he agreed to take a salary of just €50,000. But when Barça presented this figure to LaLiga, they were skeptical and officially registered him with a salary of €4 million.
To facilitate his loan move to Barça, Felix extended his contract with Atlético until 2029, with the condition of a free loan to Barça, partly to offset his significant wage reduction and also to lessen the amortization cost of his transfer. Nevertheless, renewing Felix’s loan for this summer could prove challenging for Barça, as their total salaries still exceed the salary cap, and Atlético is unlikely to agree to another free loan for the player.