The next chapter in Joao Felix's football career is about to begin, bringing with it the sense that his once-promising potential may remain unfulfilled.
Joao Felix is set to join Al-Nassr from Chelsea, remaining the third most expensive transfer ever in terms of the initial fee, having cost Atletico Madrid £113 million from Benfica at the age of 19 in 2019.
The Portuguese forward has played for European giants such as Barcelona, AC Milan, and Chelsea, yet since leaving Portugal, he has never scored more than 10 goals in a single season.
Now, at the age of 25, he is heading to Saudi Arabia. As Lisbon-based journalist Marcus Alves comments, "The feeling back home is that Felix has officially given up on becoming a truly top-level international player."
So, what went wrong?
Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague says, "It doesn't seem there is any turning point for him. It drives coaches mad. They see the potential, but he'll never fulfill it. It's a mental thing. It's not that he's not bothered—he's just not listening."
'Pure Art' - The Start at Benfica
Felix came through the Benfica academy and became the youngest player in Benfica B history when he debuted in Portugal's second tier at the age of 16.
He made his first-team debut in August 2018 and was brilliant, particularly in the latter half of the season.
Felix scored in the Lisbon derby against Sporting just a week after his introduction and became the youngest player to score a Europa League hat-trick in their quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
He ended the season with 20 goals in 43 games across all competitions, with 15 of those in 26 league matches.
Benfica won the title, and Felix was named the young player of the year, included in the Portuguese league team of the season, and later that year, he won the Golden Boy award for the best player in Europe under 21.
Journalist Alves remarked, "Those six months of him playing at Estadio da Luz regularly were by far the best I've witnessed from a player in almost a decade in Portugal. It was pure art, a joy to watch. He seemed destined for the top."
In mid-2019, when Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at the Portugal camp for the Nations League finals, a headline read 'Ronaldo joins Felix', highlighting how highly rated Felix was at that time.
Then, Atletico Madrid made one of the biggest transfers in history to acquire him.
Awards at Atletico - But Not Enough to Justify the Fee
The four most expensive transfers to date, sorted by British pounds, occurred between 2017 and 2019. The top two were Paris St-Germain's signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Number three was Atletico Madrid's £113 million move for Felix to replace Antoine Griezmann, who they sold to Barcelona for £107.7 million in the fourth biggest deal.
Felix joined Atletico under Argentine boss Diego Simeone, known for his demanding coaching style.
Balague noted, "We should have seen what was coming. Early in his time at Atletico, Simeone got really mad at him during a game, asked him to do certain things, and you could see how Joao Felix was ignoring him. He basically ended up doing nothing like the stuff Simeone was asking him to do. From then on, he started to come in and out of the side, and we started hearing stories about his lack of defensive commitment. But I think it goes deeper."
There were good times at Atletico, but not enough to justify the fee.
In three and a half seasons with Atletico, Felix scored 35 goals and provided 16 assists in 131 games.
In the 2020-21 season, he was part of the Atletico squad that won their second La Liga title under Simeone. However, he only started 14 league games that season and scored just three goals after Christmas in any competition.
The following campaign was worse for the team but better individually, as Atletico finished third, but Felix was named the club's player of the season with 10 goals in all competitions before a season-ending injury in April.
A BBC article at the time noted, "After two and a half years of flattering to deceive, Joao Felix is finally starting to look capable of becoming one of the best players in the world." However, it was a false dawn.
Balague said, "The cost to Atletico suggests there was raw talent. I think he's the last generation of players as kids who were told how brilliant they were, who do not appreciate the other side of it that you need—which is to work without the ball. Even with the ball, he's not consistent enough."
Halfway through the next season, Felix wanted out.
Atletico's chief executive officer Gil Marin said in December 2022, "He is the biggest bet this club has taken in its history. I personally think he's a top talent, a world-class player. For reasons it isn't worth getting into—the relationship between him and the boss [Simeone], the minutes played, his motivation right now—it makes you think that the reasonable thing is that if there's an option that's good for the player, good for the club, we can look at it. I'd love him to stay personally, but I don't think that's the player's idea."
Chelsea and Barcelona Loans Don't Change Fortunes
Felix then embarked on his first loan spell at Chelsea.
In January 2023, Graham Potter's Blues signed him on a six-month deal for a loan fee of £9.7 million. At the same time, Atletico extended his contract for a year until 2027.
Felix looked promising on his Chelsea debut in their derby match against Fulham until he was sent off for a lunging tackle on Kenny Tete in a 2-1 defeat.
He would only start another 13 games for the club once his three-match ban was over, plus six more off the bench, scoring four goals.
That summer, new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, who replaced Frank Lampard, who had in turn replaced Potter, decided he did not want Felix, so no permanent deal was struck.
Felix returned to Atletico but was reportedly seen arguing with sporting director Andrea Berta and was made to train with the reserves.
Griezmann, the man Felix was signed to replace, was back at Atletico and even took his number seven shirt.
Felix then angered the club and their fans by announcing he wanted to join Barcelona and was booed on the opening day against Granada, a game he did not even play in.
He got the move to Barcelona, the team he supported as a boy, on a season-long loan on 1 September.
The Portuguese scored 10 goals for Barcelona, with two of those coming against his parent club. He was the first player to score in both La Liga games against Atletico Madrid for any side since Lionel Messi four years earlier.