Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has rejected accusations of bullying after reports claimed Joao Felix wanted to leave the club.
Felix has made just seven starts for Atletico this season and the Portugal international was an unused substitute in his side’s most recent Champions League game against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
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That led to suggestions in Portugal that Simeone was treating Felix harshly, but the Atletico manager told a news conference on Friday that he would select the forward when he started to play better.
“The team is really good and the reality is another thing, the field of play. And in the reality of the field of play the thing is there’s a manager who picks the best players as a result of what he sees,” Simeone said.
“Do you think I’m not playing Joao to lose? No manager does that.
“When he starts to play well again in training, he works, he recovers his goalscoring touch, which we need, he will play.
“But while I’m here, it’s about performance, that’s why his other teammates are playing.
“It’s clear that each time he was good, he played.”
Felix has failed to hit the heights expected of him after joining from Benfica for €126 million in 2019, scoring 30 goals in 121 appearances.
He was pictured performing a shushing gesture after scoring in training for Atletico this week, but Simeone dismissed the idea there was wider significance behind it.
“I’m going to be very clear in the same way I explained it to Joao,” Simeone said. “I want to win with [Angel] Correa, with Joao, with [Antoine] Griezmann, with [Matheus] Cunha, with [Alvaro] Morata.
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“The only reality is the one there is. In the year of the Liga [when Atletico won in 2020-21] he had an incredible year until he got injured and Correa ended up playing because he had a great end to the season.
“In the [2019-20 season] he hadn’t been playing, but he started to play against Osasuna, he played well, he responded with goals, giving everything for the team, which he has [at his disposal], and he played until he got injured.
“[This] season he played a good preseason, beyond his injury, with good games against Juventus and because of his good performance he played.
“And now, when his performance has decreased, other teammates play. Because I think Joao is equal to Correa and the others.
“It’s normal that yesterday he did the gesture of silence [when] he was playing with [Yannick] Carrasco and [Rodrigo] De Paul to see who scored a goal.
“But now that he has the focus on him, you guys who are there with a microscope form opinions about anything as a result of what you think.
“Everything I have to say to the players I tell them in the dressing room, not here.”
Atletico travel to Bilbao to face Athletic Club on Saturday. Simeone’s team are fourth in the table, six points off Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top.