Felix joined Riyadh to win - others are for money, he gave up on himself

This is one of the most confusing careers in football history.

On July 29, Joao Felix officially transferred from Chelsea to Riyadh for £43.7 million, and the two sides signed a two-year contract. In 2019, the 19-year-old Felix transferred from Benfica to Atletico Madrid for £113 million.

The Portuguese striker later played for European giants Barcelona, AC Milan and Chelsea - however, he has never scored more than 10 goals in a single season since leaving his home country.

Now, 25-year-old Felix sets out for Saudi Arabia. As Lisbon journalist Marcus Alves said: "I feel like Felix has given up his dream of becoming a truly top player."

What exactly happened?

Spanish football reporter Gillem Barrag said: "For him, there seems to be no turning point."

"This drove the coaches crazy. They saw his potential, but he could never play it out, which is a psychological problem. It's not that he doesn't care, but that he doesn't listen to any advice at all."

"Pure Art" - At the beginning of Benfica's youth training college, Felix was born in Benfica's youth training academy and made his first appearance in the Portuguese League Alumni at the age of 16. He is also the youngest player in Benfica's history.

He made his first appearance for Benfica's first team in August 2018 - in short, he performed very well that season, especially in the second half of the season.

Felix scored a goal in the Lisbon derby against Portugal Sports just a week after his first appearance, and was also the youngest player to have a hat-trick in that event in the quarter-finals against Frankfurt.

That season, he scored 20 goals in 43 games in various competitions, including 15 goals in 26 appearances in Portugal.

Benfica won the league championship, Felix was named Portugal Young Player of the Year, selected for the Portuguese Super League season, and later that year he won the European Player Under 21 (Golden Boy) Award.

Alves said: "The six months he played at the Stadium of Light were the best of all the players I've ever seen in Portugal in the past decade."

"He played football as a pure art, and watching him play football was a treat. He seemed destined to reach the top."

"As early in mid-2019, when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at the Portuguese national team training camp to compete in the UEFA Nations League final, I remember seeing a news on TV with the title 'Ronaldo joining Felix'. Note that C. Ronaldo joined Felix, not the team."

"It's not a joke - Felix was highly praised at the time."

Then Atletico Madrid called to inquire, hoping to complete one of the biggest transfers in history. Some of Atletico Madrid's achievements - but not enough to justify the transfer fee, the four most expensive transfers to date all occurred between 2017 and 2019.

The top two transfers are Paris Saint-Germain signing Neymar and Mbappe.

The third-ranked deal is that Atletico Madrid introduces Felix for £113 million, and he wants to replace Frenchman Griezmann, who was sold to Barcelona by Atletico Madrid for £107.7 million, which is the fourth-ranked transfer.

Felix will join forces with Atletico Madrid's Argentina coach Diego Simeone, who is known for his rigorous training and serious work attitude.

"We should have foresaw what would happen," Barrager said. "In the early days of Felix's Atletico Madrid, Simeone was very angry at his performance in the game, Simeone asked João Felix to do something, but you can see him turning a deaf ear."

"He basically didn't do anything Simeone asked him to do. Since then, he has been replaced frequently and we started to hear rumors about him not investing enough in defense, but I think there is a deeper level of the problem."

He also had great time at Atletico Madrid, but it was not enough to justify the transfer.

In his three and a half seasons with Atletico Madrid, he has made a total of 131 appearances, scored 35 goals and had 16 assists.

In the 2020-21 season, Simeone led Atletico Madrid to win the La Liga championship for the second time, and Felix was one of the team.

But he only started 14 league games that season and scored only three goals in all games after Christmas.

The team performed poorly in the following season, but Felix's personal performance improved. Atletico Madrid eventually won the third place in the league. Felix was named the club's player of the season, and he scored 10 goals in various competitions before being reimbursed for injury in April.

At that time, a media article began: "After two and a half years of touting and deceit, Joao Felix finally began to show his ability to be one of the best players in the world."

But this was just a flash in the pan.

Balag said: "The expenses of Atletico Madrid show that he has talent."

"I think he is the last player who was told how outstanding he was when he was a child, but did not know how to play the other side. He didn't know that he had to fight without the ball, and even if he was in a ball state, his performance was not stable enough."

Halfway through the 2022-23 season, Felix wanted to leave.

Atlanie, CEO of Atletico Madrid, said in December 2022: "He is the biggest gamble in the history of the club and I personally think he is a world-class player with top talent.". ”

Balag said: “(In Spain) we would rather be a chicken head than a phoenix tail. ”

"He is not stable enough, not hard enough, not suitable for the new position dominated by football in our era - people in that position need to bear the responsibilities and obligations he is unwilling to bear. ”

Felix won two UEFA Nations League championships with Portugal and scored nine goals in 45 games for the Portuguese national team.

Alves added: "I feel that his six months of performance in Benfica will be the best performance in his career. So I felt so frustrated when I saw him transfer to Saudi Arabia at the age of 25. ”