Atletico Madrid announced on Wednesday the signing of Joao Felix from Benfica. A highly wanted man at the age of 19, Felix was wanted by Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona, and even Manchester City. Like most big name young players, they get hyped up and bought for a stupid amount of money and almost flamed out and not live up to the hype. Felix has done the complete opposite of this by going to Atletico Madrid. Here is why.
Recently, it feels like anytime a teenager builds up any kind of hype, he is sold to a big name club and it never really works out. Renato Sanches was sold to Bayern from Benfica in 2015 and only played 36 minutes per appearance. He was loaned out to Swansea the next season and is back in Munich fighting for a spot in a loaded midfield.
Martial was a deadline day signing for United and started out with a bang. 18 goals and 11 assists in his first season and everyone was ready for him to elevate Manchester United back to the top. Since then, he has not bettered 11 goals or 9 assists in a season and constantly has rumors of him being sold.
Monaco sold James Rodriguez to Real Madrid after being the best player at the 2014 World Cup. For Real Madrid standards, he flopped and was loaned out to Bayern Munich for the 2017/2018 season. With a midfield like Kroos, Casemiro, Modric, Isco and attacking force of Benzema, Ronaldo at the time, Bale, Vazquez, and a young Asensio, James struggled for minutes and had to settle for the Bundesliga.
The only exception to all of these types of players goes to Kylian Mbappe. He moved to PSG as an 18 year old and has run rampant in the PSG side. While some might think that Ligue 1 is an easier league, Mbappe had 30 goals in the league last season, making him the best player in France, let alone best young player. Oh. He also won the World Cup or something.
Hopefully Felix is making the right move like Mbappe and picking the right club. Atletico Madrid have a history of developing great strikers and turning them into stars. Fernando Torres, Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, Radamel Falcao, Diego Costa, and Antoine Griezmann have all played for the club recently. Felix would move right into the starting lineup for Atleti as Griezmann has been shown the door by the club.
By moving to Atletico Madrid, Felix knows he is going to be able to get fantastic minutes for a club that will be challenging year in and year out in La Liga and the Champions League. Playing behind Morata most likely, Felix scored 14 out of his 20 goals as a second strikes according to Transfermarkt.com. Sure he may of gotten good time at Manchester United, but the club is a mess right now and does not have the attraction of the Champions League. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Manchester City have came knocking, but there is no guarantee of playing time as all of those teams have deep squads.
With scoring 20 goals and assisting 11 in 40 games across all competitions last year, Felix is one of the most talented tennagers in the world. The world was set on fire by this Europa League hattrick.
If you don’t believe how good this kid is, here are in 2018/2019 season highlights
This is a move that is perfect for both club and player, and one I hope to see more young rising superstars make. Do not move to the biggest clubs in the world until you have proved you can fight and gain playing time at those clubs. While Atletico Madrid is still a big club and will be competing at the highest level, they still do not have the squad depth of a Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Manchester City. Felix is going to shine under Simeone and become one of the best players in the world.