Deliverance for Felix? Three leading English clubs are interested in the Atlético striker

He was considered a huge talent not only in Portuguese football, but in world football. Atlético Madrid paid Benfica Lisbon €127 million for him at the age of 19. But his development has stalled in the Spanish capital and Félix is looking for a way out.

It was quite a shock in July 2019. João Félix had had a moving one season in the Benfica Lisbon squad and Atlético Madrid were not reluctant to pay €127 million for him.

Indeed, Félix impressed at Benfica. In 26 league games, he collected 15 goals and 7 assists, added 2 goals in the cup and scored three times in the Europa League. He was such a great talent that Atlético didn’t want to miss him, especially when Griezmann was just leaving for Barcelona.

The young Portuguese really had flashes of genius and hints that he could work his way up to being one of the best players in the world. But in three and a half years, he had failed to develop into an irreplaceable player who was guaranteed a place in the starting line-up.

Bad choice of engagements

Atlético’s defensive style does not suit him at all. He is a completely different player to the ones Simeone is banking on. Félix is a toy, a fantastic technician and dribbler, most dangerous with the ball at his feet near the opposition’s penalty area. On the other hand, he doesn’t put much thought into defending, nor is tackling or pressing his great strengths.

But “Cholo” wants warriors on the pitch, in a good sense of the word, fools who will fly into every duel headfirst. He doesn’t care much for technical finesse and beauty football. So it was not very understandable why Atlético brought in such a different player in the first place.

Moreover, there was a complete split during the autumn. The young talent spent most of his time on the bench, sometimes coming onto the pitch for the last few minutes. After the Champions League match against Brugge, when Félix was left on the bench for the entire match by coach Diego Simeone, the Portuguese exploded in anger.

Although the match was 0-0 and the Colchoneros needed to score, Simeone did not use Félix. So when he announced the last fifth substitution, which was Alex Witsel, Félix angrily threw the bottle and was the only one who didn’t go to thank the fans for their support.

Leaving for the Premier League?

Félix’s relationship with Simeon has reportedly been at a standstill ever since. But he’s shown where his strength lies with the Portuguese national team. Santos gave him the role of attacking number one, he had a free role on the pitch and was relieved of the vast majority of defensive duties.

Suddenly he woke up completely, scoring 1+2, but he was in virtually everything dangerous and put in an excellent performance. So in the winter his agent Jorge Mendes will deal with his departure from Wanda Metropolitano.

And where could he go? According to the Daily Mail, three clubs are interested in the Portuguese. Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Aston Villa are also probing the situation, but Félix will only look to the top teams due to his quality, leaving such a star to a below-average side makes no sense.

Manchester City could be the best fit for Félix. Under Pep Guardiola, he could fulfil his huge potential as they share the same vision of football. They both want to keep the ball on the ball for as long as possible and lay siege to the opposition’s whitewash.

Source: Daily Mail, MARCA