João Félix was the most coveted young talent in the world when he emerged at Benfica but he’s never truly delivered on his undeniable talent. Several European giants have gambled on being able to unlock his potential with Félix ranking seventh in accumulated transfer fees across history (€196 million). Now 25, Félix is at a crossroads of his career with the next step in his remarkable journey incredibly difficult to predict.
Few players can boast Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan on their CV but it appears increasingly unlikely that Félix’s next club will be as glamorous. After being signed for €52m by Chelsea last summer, Félix was dispatched on loan to AC Milan after just six months but with his spell in Serie A a huge disappointment, what is next for João Félix?
Félix’s stock is undeniably at its lowest ebb and a far cry from when he won the prestigious Golden Boy award when at Benfica in 2019. Eyebrows were raised when Chelsea splashed out to sign Félix on a permanent deal last season after an underwhelming six-month loan spell in 2023 that yielded just four goal contributions in 16 Premier League games. AC Milan paid a loan fee of around €6m to sign Félix until the end of the season but the Serie A club don’t want to sign him permanently after just one goal in 12 goals in Italy
Kyle Walker was filmed reprimanding Félix at half-time in the weekend defeat to Napoli, telling him to ‘pass the ball’ as ‘nobody is Messi’. The 25-year-old has regularly been criticsed by Italian media and he’s increasingly being used sporadically with AC Milan languishing in ninth in Serie A. Félix will return to Stamford Bridge in the summer with five years left of his deal on substantial wages and Chelsea may struggle to find a realistic suitor, although links to Galatasaray have emerged recently.
Goncalo Tristao Santos, Transfermarkt’s Portuguese football expert, believes a move to Turkey may represent the optimum solution. “AC Milan does not intend to keep him beyond his loan period, and that doesn’t surprise me,” Santos admitted. “Félix only scored one goal in the 11 matches he played for the club, and he scored it in his debut match. More was expected of him. In the meantime, he has already played in the major European leagues – La Liga, Premier League, and Serie A – and, although he had some good moments in Spain, he hasn’t fully convinced in any of them. It is hard to predict where his future will take him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up in a peripheral league, such as the Turkish league. Recently, there has been talk of him possibly moving to Galatasaray. It could be a good step for his career.
A sign of the excitement surrounding Félix around his breakthrough at Benfica is highlighted by the €127.2m fee Atletico paid to secure his signature remaining the fifth highest transfer fee in history. Although Atletico failed to get value for money, Félix’s best form of his career since leaving Benfica arrived in the Spanish capital with 51 goal contributions in 131 games – he also won La Liga in 2021. The attacker’s market value peaked at €100m during his time in Spain but it recently dropped to €25 in the recent Serie A update – the lowest it’s been since leaving Benfica.
So, what has gone wrong? “It is very difficult to say what has gone wrong in Félix’s career,” reflected Santos. “The potential and technical qualities are there, but the truth is that things have almost never gone well for him since he left Benfica, and that was in the summer of 2019, almost six years ago. It has been a long time already. In Portugal, it seems that there are still some who believe in him. Even so, the distrust towards Félix is greater than ever. People know he hasn’t been performing well at the clubs he’s been at, and even in the national team, he hasn’t been decisive. Therefore, there is a lot of disbelief in him, despite there being some who believe that he can still show all of his potential.”
