Saudi Arabia tried to sign Joao Felix on loan, but Atletico Madrid turned it down. They only want a complete transfer.
Felix was once considered the future of Portugal. Hearing that he was the second Ronaldo, he received a lot of expectations and was regarded as a resource to lead the world football world following Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
In fact, the impact was great. Felix, who was only 19 years old in the 2018-19 season, his adult stage debut season, scored 15 goals and 9 assists in the league alone for Benfica. He also proved that he can work on the big stage by recording 3 goals and 1 assist in 6 matches in the European Football Federation (UEFA) Europa League (UEL).
This has garnered interest from several clubs. Atletico was the most active. Atlético, which sent ‘Ace’ Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona, invested most of the profits earned from the transfer fee in Felix’s recruitment. The amount is a whopping 127.2 million euros (approximately 183.8 billion won). This still sits at the top of the all-time transfer fee record.
So much was expected. Although it took a period of adaptation, Atlético consistently moderated him and showed their trust. In the first year of his transfer, Felix scored 9 goals and 3 assists in 36 games, including cup competitions. It was a poor performance compared to his expectations, but considering his young age and the first year of the transfer, it was not bad.
After that, Felix continued to play. But he hardly ever rebounded. His performance in three and a half seasons was 131 games, 34 goals and 18 assists. The 2021-22 season showed a brief resurgence, but that was it.
It lost its position in the 2022-23 season. He was relegated to a rotation resource and was mostly a substitute. Felix was dissatisfied with his position and expressed it openly. In the end, rumors of a disagreement with coach Diego Simeone were raised, and during the winter transfer market, he transferred to Chelsea through ‘lease’.
At Chelsea, Felix played ‘happy football’. 4 goals in 20 games. He didn’t have many offensive points, but he was able to enjoy football ‘to the fullest’ with less pressure. He expressed satisfaction with his life at Chelsea and considered a permanent transfer.메이저놀이터
But this didn’t happen. Mauricio Pochettino didn’t have Felix in his plans. So he returned to Atletico.
He came to Atlético, but his position did not improve. He was rather criticized for his controversial remarks. He said he wanted to move to ‘rival’ Barcelona. According to European football transfer expert Fabricio Romano, he said: “Barcelona has always been my first pick. I want to join Barcelona. It has been my dream to play there since I was a kid. If the deal goes through, it will be my dream come true.” said. It was an angry enough statement for Atlético fans and officials to hear.
Since then, he has been steadily pushing for a transfer with Barcelona. According to influential Italian journalist Nicolo Skira, he even reached an agreement in principle with Barcelona. There was still a lot left to be done, but the possibilities were still there.
In this situation, the Saudis approached him. They offered to sign Felix on loan to Atletico. But Atletico refused. They only wanted a ‘full transfer’. Romano said on his social media on the 9th (Korean time), “Al-Hilal offered to sign Felix on loan to Atletico, but was rejected. Atletico’s top priority is a complete transfer. Felix is dreaming of moving to Barcelona and moving to Saudi Arabia. is only thinking of ‘rent’.”