Meet ‘new Ronaldo’ Joao Felix, the 19-year-old Atletico Madrid signed to exchange Antoine Griezmann

At simply 19 years outdated and after barely half a season of standard senior soccer, Joao Felix grew to become the fourth-most costly footballer in historical past when Atletico Madrid paid Benfica €126 million for the striker dubbed “the brand new Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Regardless of the astronomical price, quite than viewing the acquisition as an unlimited punt, the final consensus is that the Spaniards have executed effectively to stave off opposition from Manchester Metropolis and different high golf equipment, with many speculating that the Colchoneros will greater than make their money again as Felix’s worth soars within the coming years.

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The place has he come from?

After dominating Portuguese soccer for 3 many years, Porto have been usurped by Benfica as high canine within the nation lately, and the story of Joao Felix could possibly be seen as an ideal illustration of this shift. Born in Viseu in central Portugal, Felix was on Porto’s books from an early age till three years in the past. Letting him be a part of their arch-rivals should rank as certainly one of their biggest errors.

Felix made fast progress on the Lisbon membership’s famed Seixal Academy (which has spawned stars comparable to Bernardo Silva and Andre Gomes), scoring 50 targets in 100 matches for the U17, U19 and B groups.

His influence was quick when given his senior debut, scoring an equaliser as a late substitute within the Lisbon derby towards metropolis rivals Sporting to offer the Benfica devoted had a brand new darling. Felix went on to attain 20 targets in 43 matches in 2018-19 and have become the youngest participant to attain a Europa League hat trick, triggering his swap from Portugal’s capital to that of Spain.

Place

When coming by the ranks, Felix was extra of an attacking midfielder than a striker as a consequence of his wonderful imaginative and prescient and artistic passing. In his first senior appearances he normally performed on the appropriate aspect of midfield.

The sacking of Benfica supervisor Rui Vitoria and promotion of B-team coach Bruno Lage in January was massively important. Lage knew Felix effectively having labored collectively within the membership’s youth set-up. “After I bought the job the very first thing I believed was I’ll get this child taking part in,” Lage mentioned within the wake of a tremendously profitable season for each of them as Benfica received their 37th league title.

Felix was positioned because the second striker behind massive Swiss centre-forward Haris Seferovic. The partnership proved devastating, and the younger ahead scored 17 of his 20 targets in his debut season in these closing 5 months of the marketing campaign.

Joao Felix was dubbed ‘the brand new Cristiano Ronaldo’ earlier than he had even made his full Portugal debut. Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Photos

Strengths

Felix shoots powerfully and readily with each ft and is surprisingly sturdy within the air given ‘s slight body, however one standout attribute is his instinctive positional sense. Like all the good strikers, he appears to have a sixth sense as regards the place the ball will land, along with an uncanny capability to evade his marker. Few of his targets final season had been long-range screamers or exceptional particular person efforts, however quite medical and sure-footed finishes from contained in the field.

One other noteworthy string to his bow is his absolute confidence of his personal capability. Whereas Felix is shy and retiring off the pitch, he’s something however on it. He thrived within the largest matches, scoring and placing in excellent shows in essential away victories at Sporting and Porto, and the best way he stood as much as intimidating bodily therapy from veteran Porto centre-back Pepe spoke that he knew the most important video games had been his stage.

Weaknesses

Nonetheless to fill out and never blessed with tempo to burn, Felix stays closely reliant on service from his teammates to shine. He isn’t a striker who will run tirelessly in seek for the ball, a lot much less one who can maintain the road. In consequence, on the uncommon events when Benfica’s ultra-attacking sport was blunted, he grew to become a peripheral determine. At this early stage of his profession, his defensive contributions are negligible.

This was additionally evident in his one senior look for Portugal up to now, when a well-organised Switzerland minimize off the provision line to Felix in his worldwide debut within the Nations League semifinals.

Atletico Madrid made Joao Felix the fourth-most costly participant ever after they signed him this summer time. Getty

The place he suits in

Felix is a participant round whom the staff needs to be constructed to get probably the most out of his skillset. A €126m funding suggests Atletico are ready to try this.

Paradoxically, nevertheless, Diego Simeone’s groups are identified for his or her defensive solidity and immense work charge in relation to blocking the opposition’s attacking sport from the entrance. It would due to this fact be fascinating to see whether or not these two contrasting points are reconciled to get the very best out of Felix.

Simeone has a historical past of purchasing in Portugal for strikers, with blended outcomes. Radamel Falcao was a large hit, whereas Jackson Martinez was very a lot a bust, though when it comes to taking part in type Felix could possibly be seen as a like-for-like alternative for Antoine Griezmann.

The participant himself is satisfied he made the appropriate option to proceed his profession’s upward trajectory. “I had a number of golf equipment excited about me however I ended up selecting Atletico Madrid as a result of I consider it is the membership that offers me the very best probability to develop,” he mentioned at his unveiling final week. “I am grown up sufficient to deal with this case.”