From €120m, to unwanted - what happened to Joao Felix?

Paul Macdonald

• 22 Aug 2023 08:00 CDT
• 4 min read

Joao Felix had the world at his feet.

The single most exciting talent in European football, his breakthrough at Benfica was breathtaking, scoring 18 times in all competitions in his debut season.

The timing of his transfer to Atletico Madrid worked out well; Antoine Griezmann had been sold to Barcelona, giving Atleti the budget to negotiate with one of the toughest operators around in Benfica.

The €127m seemed excessive at the time but if he could deliver on his promise, it could elevate Atleti to a whole other level. And yet it has proven to be one of the most disastrous wastes of money in the modern era. Now his only option appears to be Barcelona - and that even that is in serious doubt.

What happened?

What happened, in the first instance, was that Atletico Madrid spent an incredible amount of money who was never right for a Simeone team. Whether Simeone saw him as a like-for-like replacement for Griezmann, well, he never was that player.

Griezmann was predominantly selfless, working hard to cover for the team in a defensive way that Simeone teams demand. It’s not about the glory of the individual, but the glory of the team, and in that sense Felix was still the attacker provided luxury by Benfica he would not get in Spain.

In his first season he featured in 27 La Liga games, 21 of which were starts, scoring six goals and contributing one assist. While it’s not a terrible return for one so young, it’s also not particularly stellar given the fee that came along with it.

The ironic thing is, as Simeone trusted Felix less, his numbers actually improved. The season after he started just 14 times, but had 12 league contributions (seven goals and five assists). In 2021/22 he started only 13 times, but again had 12 contributions (eight goals, four assists) and also had his highest expected contributions of his entire spell there, with a expected G+A of 10.4.

Even in a season where half was spent at Chelsea he still provided 11 contributions (eight goals, three assists) and an expected G+A of 9.7. That came from 17 starts in the league.

The loan move to Chelsea last January, post-World Cup, was designed to reboot him not as an Atletico Madrid player, but as an asset to sell on. But the red card in his very first game in England was far from an ideal start, and he was being asked to integrate into a Chelsea team wholly dysfunctional and in the process of sacking Graham Potter.

In short, Felix has been in the wrong place at the wrong time from the minute he left Benfica. There is a case to be made that prospective buyers aren’t really sure what he is; too lightweight to lead the line, but his assist record doesn’t suggest a massive creative element to his game either.

But one thing that is clear - the huge fee that has hung over him has decimated his development. Had he been signed for €50m - closer, arguably to his actual value - he would have likely have moved on from Atleti now and found a permanent home somewhere else where he could have been allowed to thrive.

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Yet as it was, Atleti simply couldn’t afford to take such a huge loss on what is easily their record transfer. He has a contract until 2027. They will try for as long as possible to obtain a fee that allows them to recoup something close to what they spent.

And now, with less than two weeks to go before the end of the window, no-one wants to take the gamble. They don’t want to be saddled with a player who may not live up to their expectations and may have to pay a big loan fee - and salary - to find out.

But Felix is only 23. There’s still a player to discover here, and if he were to find the right home, can fulfil some of the talent that has been lost.