Portugal international, who plays for Atletico Madrid Joao Felix has nurtured the ambition to play with both Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland and Paris Saint Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe.
The Viseu-born started his football career in a Portuguese club called Os Pestinhas in 2007 before the 22-year-old joined FC Porto. He faced some trying times at the club which was close to ending his football career before it even started at the age of twelve due to lack of playing time, thanks to his father who encouraged him to further pursue his career.
In 2015, he moved to Benfica, where he was played at the reserve team of the Lisbon-based club a year later. He played his debut match coming up as a substitute, tagged as the youngest player to play in the second cadre of the club. After a year of exploits, he was promoted to the senior team of the club in the 2018/19 campaign.
The Portuguese scored a hat-trick against Eintracht Frankfurt in a UEFA Europa League in 2019, 4-2, it ended. He became the youngest goal scorer to a hat-trick in the competition. In Europe, Joao Felix was ranked second- behind Jadon Sancho and Kai Havertz among the youngsters with goals and assists.
He signed a seven-year contract with Atletico for a transfer fee of 126 million euros- the fourth-highest amount ever paid in football and was Benfica’s biggest transfer and the club’s most expensive transfer.
In the 2020/21 season, Joao Felix has scored six goals with three assists in the Spanish La Liga with Diego Simeone’s men, netting three in six UEFA Champions League outings.
However, Felix has the desire to play with Haaland and Mbappe following their sensational display in both the UEFA Champions League and for their respective leagues.
He made a comparison to his countryman who plays for Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, stating his ability to play at wider positions
“Mbappé and Haaland are more scorers. Mbappé, it’s a bit like Cristiano. It starts from the wings to transplant in the center; I play more back than them, a bit like a second striker. I wish I could play with them one day. And I hope they would like to play with me too.” He said
He said Lionel Messi and Ronaldo have reached the peak of their career, concluding that both Haaland and Mbappe are on the way to reach their peak
“Messi and Ronaldo have reached a level that no other player has reached. Mbappé and Haaland are on the right track,” he stated
Joao Felix is part of the Atletico squad that will face Chelsea at Bucharest in the UCL round of 16 slated for Tuesday.
