JOAO FELIX
CLUB BENFICA POSITION STRIKER Value £100m Age 19 Foot Right Height 1.8m Nation Portugal
THE STORY SO FAR: Back in February, Cristiano Ronaldo watched the Lisbon derby between Sporting and Benfica at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. He couldn’t help but be impressed by the visitors’ No.79, a playmaker successfully turned into a second striker. Joao Felix was brilliant for the visitors, scoring, winning a penalty and being named man of the match in a 4-2 victory. “Portugal’s best player was at the Alvalade – and it was nice for Ronaldo to be there to watch him play,” joked Rui Gomes da Silva, Benfica’s former vice-president.
Felix made his debut last August and has been tearing it up ever since, hitting a hat-trick in Benfica’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt. He is clinical in front of goal and dangerous in the air, and is tipped to be Portugal’s star of the next decade. LINKED WITH: Felix is represented by Jorge Mendes (below), the super-agent who looks after Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho and Bernardo Silva, among others. Mendes, the go-to guy for Portuguese talents targeting a big transfer, has reportedly had Felix-related talks with Real Madrid, Manchester United, Juventus and, obviously, Wolves. SOCIAL MEDIA: Felix’s rise to stardom make him a man in demand – on and especially off the pitch. “I get some nudes from fans, it’s true, but I always reject them,” he said at an Adidas event.
It’s not always been that way. Felix revealed, “In the first team, I started checking all the reactions after my games and noticed not-so-very-nice things about me. I was like, ‘What?’ So from that moment on, I realised how it was going to be and stopped reading comments about me.”
HE SAID: “I’d like to play alongside Ronaldo, because he’s the best. He’s an idol, a world icon, an example for everyone. Being next to him, being able to train with a monster like him, would allow me to grow further. He always wants to improve. He’s an inspiration.”
THEY SAID: “Whenever Felix does something different – and he does that every game – Thierry Henry sends me videos and says, ‘It was a mistake; we should have caught this guy earlier’.” That was Joao Tralhao’s assessment during the Portuguese’s recent spell as Henry’s assistant coach at Monaco.
DID YOU KNOW? Felix began his career at Benfica’s big rivals, Porto, but after seven seasons he decided to leave. The forward was 15 when he headed south in 2015. In order to lure him, Benfica brought up the example of Andre Gomes, who had taken a similar path.