Barcelona will reportedly reignite their interest in Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix if Ousmane Dembele leaves the club this summer.
Dembele has entered the final year of his contract at Camp Nou and he is understood to have turned down Barca's latest offer to extend his deal amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
The 26-year-old has allegedly agreed a five-year deal with PSG, who have triggered the winger's €50m (£42.8m) release clause, and the Ligue 1 champions have until Sunday to finalise a deal with Barcelona.
Dembele is expected to end his six-year association with Barcelona and return to his native France to link up with a PSG side who have swooped for the winger amid uncertainty over the future of Kylian Mbappe.
According to Sport, Barcelona were offered Felix by his agent Jorge Mendes earlier this summer, but the Catalan club made it clear that they already have a sufficient number of attacking players in Xavi's squad.
However, the report adds that Barca are prepared to return to the negotiating table with Atletico to discuss a summer transfer for the 23-year-old now that Dembele is expected to depart.
Felix has been strongly linked with a move away from Atletico since returning from a short-term loan spell at Chelsea, where he scored just four goals in 20 appearances during the second half of last season.
The Portugal international signed a new contract with Atletico in January, keeping him tied to the Wanda Metropolitano until June 2027, but he is believed to have expressed his desire to leave the club and secure a 'dream' move to Barcelona.
Atletico supporters have been left angered by Felix's willingness to join Barca and they were seen vandalising a plaque of the forward outside the Wanda Metropolitano last month.
Felix was allegedly made to train with the club's academy during pre-season earlier this summer, and manager Diego Simeone has responded to speculation about the Portuguese's future, insisting that 'nobody is bigger than the club'.
Speaking to AS, as quoted by 90min, Simeone said: "The main focus is the team. It is normal that in the press the focus is on whether he stays or leaves.
"I already said that there is no one more important than the club, with no exceptions. It's impossible to be clearer than that.
"Is there time [for Felix to succeed at Atletico]? It's not up to me, ask him and his representative."
Felix, once regarded as one of the brightest prospects in world football, joined Atletico from Benfica for a club-record £114m in the summer of 2019, but he has failed to reach the heights expected in the Spanish capital, scoring 34 goals in 118 games across all competitions.
The forward fell down the pecking order under Simeone last season before joining Chelsea on loan, and he was a notable absentee from the club's 2-1 friendly victory over Manchester City last Wednesday. body check tags ::
