Former Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan believes the Rojiblancos can push for the title in La Liga this season.
Atletico last won the competition in 2013-14, but have come second in each of the past two seasons and have had a flying start to the campaign, with three wins out of three so far.
Portuguese teenager Joao Felix has caught the eye in particular and Forlan said: "He’s a great player. Since he came to the club he’s scored goals, he’s provided assists.
"He’s very sharp and still very young, but is showing great ability and I think he can be a real player.”
And he believes the 19-year-old, who cost €120 million and has replaced Antoine Griezmann after the French forward moved to Barcelona, will be key to their title hopes.
“Following a very strong pre-season, Atletico are in a very strong position to push for the title again with young players like Joao Felix and more experienced such as Diego Costa," he said.
Forlan scored 96 goals in 196 games for Atletico, winning the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup in his time at the Vicente Calderon. In La Liga, he netted 32 goals in the 2008-09 season to claim the Pichichi prize for the league's top scorer and also the European Golden Boot.
"I always enjoyed scoring goals and that season I was in great shape, plus the team was doing very well," he said. "When you feel happy and you enjoy what you’re doing it’s easy, so those years with Atletico were really nice.”
The former Uruguay striker played with both Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa at Atleti.
"They are great guys," he said. With Diego, we trained more than we played because he was often on loan. Sergio was great, one of the top players, he was quick, strong, he scored goals, he provides assists. It was a great time to play at Atletico together.”
