Leaked phonecall shows Joao Felix rejected Jorge Mendes' £100m PL transfer wish

Jorge Mendes tried to encourage Joao Felix to join Manchester City from Benfica back in 2019, a leaked recording has revealed.

Atletico Madrid signed Felix from Benfica for a fee of £112.9million (€126m) in July 2019 to make him the fourth most expensive player of all time.

The 22-year-old has contributed 22 goals and 12 assists in 94 appearances for Atletico in the past two and a half years.

But it seems that things could have been very different, had Felix's agent got his wish.

An ongoing investigation into transfer dealings in Portugal by the Public Ministry, dubbed operation Cartão Vermelho, or Red Card, has turned up a recording of Mendes from the summer of 2019.

The quotes, which were first published by Portuguese newspaper Record, are reportedly from a conversation between Mendes and Benfica director Bruno Maruta.

"[Benfica president Luis Filipe] Vieira insisted on me to have proposals of 120million (Euros) [for Felix] and I've already got four," Mendes says.

"Now there's a problem because he can only go to one and there's one that gives 120 million and he stays for another year, which is what he wants to do.

"Now he has to see what he wants to do."

He then continues: "The best thing for Joao Felix would be Manchester City because of Guardiola. It will be the most expensive transfer in Portuguese football."

According to Mundo Deportivo, the four offers Mendes is referring to were from Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United and Real Madrid.

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Felix remains the fourth most expensive player in history, behind only Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Philippe Coutinho.

Atletico Madrid won the race to sign Felix in 2019, but it has not all been plain sailing since for the Portuguese starlet, who has just two goals and two assists in 17 appearances this season.

The return of Antoine Griezmann from Barcelona and signing of Matheus Cunha also increased the competition for places under Diego Simeone and there were suggestions in December that a transfer could be on the cards this month.

"I always understand everything, I'm open to everything," Simeone said on December 17 when asked about Felix's future.

"The most important thing is the team. Joao is an important piece of our team."

He added: "I've spoken a lot with him. I don't have anything to explain to you about what needs to be worked on inside.

"Seeing Joao for just a few minutes, you realise he's a great player. He's going through a situation of growth, we've seen it with Portugal and maybe here too.

"It's about maturing and growing to find the consistency that football demands."