Félix took 20 times less pay for Barcelona. I needed to do that to enjoy football, says the Portuguese

João Félix is shining in Barcelona so far. He is enjoying his football, playing with a smile on his face and scoring goals again. But to join the Blaugranas, he had to take a big pay cut.

The Portuguese footballer has only played 142 minutes in a Barcelona jersey, but he has already won over fans and coaches alike. In the two matches in which he played from the start, Barcelona won 5: 0 and Félix registered three goals.

He joined the Blaugranas on the last day of the transfer window. And there was talk that Félix would have to take a significant pay cut to make the move happen. And that has now been confirmed by the player himself.

“Yes, it is true that I gave up a significant part of my salary. But I needed a change, I needed to go to a place where I could play my football, and as I said, I always believed that this would be the ideal place. Things are going well and I had to make the effort to enjoy football again,” Félix told Mundo Deportivo.

In order to make the move happen, Félix extended his contract with Atlético until 2029 and drastically reduced his salary. The Portuguese is expected to receive only 400,000 euros this season, which is 20 times less than he was taking originally.

Barcelona is still struggling financially. The salary cap still doesn’t allow the club to make any significant jumps and they are trying to save on players’ salaries wherever they can.

“It’s clear to everyone, football is like that, whoever is not doing well has to change jobs. I did it before at Chelsea and now I did it at Barcelona because I didn’t do well there, I didn’t adapt to the club’s and the coach’s ideas, but I always tried to do the best I could and I had some very good times there,” Félix recalled of Atlético.

In Barcelona, Félix may have finally found himself. The style of football he plays suits him, he has the confidence of the coach and there is not much competition in attack.

Source: Mundo Deportivo