MADRID (Reuters) – Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix has undergone surgery on his ankle, the La Liga champions said on Friday.
Felix, who cost a club record fee of 126 million euros ($149.02 million), has sustained four separate ankle injuries and started less than half of Atletico’s La Liga games since joining from Benfica in 2019.
His injury problems continued at Euro 2020 as he missed Portugal’s games against Germany and France with a muscle problem before coming on as a substitute in their 1-0 defeat by Belgium in the last 16.
Atletico’s statement said the 21-year-old was treated by Dutch surgeon Niek van Dijk in Porto under supervision from the club’s doctors but did not state when he would return to action.
Spanish newspaper Marca said Atletico were hopeful he could return just in time for the start of the new season, which begins on Aug. 15 when Diego Simeone’s side visit Celta Vigo.
($1 = 0.8455 euros)
(Reporting by Richard Martin; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
