Why Joao Felix has struggled to live up to his billing as new Cristiano Ronaldo

When Joao Felix signed for Atletico Madrid from Benfica three years ago, the Portuguese forward was the most highly-rated teenager in world football.

A transfer value of over £100m reflected the high esteem in which he was held by not only Atletico, but by the wider market, with links to a variety of clubs including tonight’s Champions League opponents Manchester United persisting.

Felix became the fourth most-expensive footballer of all-time after a single season of top flight football in his homeland, and manager Diego Simeone’s plan was for him to become the leader of the Atletico attack after the departure of Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona.

Two-and-a-half seasons later, though, Felix is a bit-part figure in an Atletico team which has stalled significantly. The cut-price return of Griezmann to the club after a mediocre spell at the Camp Nou has seen his playing time diminish, and the arrivals of Luis Suarez from the same club and Matheus Cunha from Hertha Berlin haven’t helped either.

Simeone’s side won La Liga for the first time since 2014 last season, but they have struggled significantly in 2020/21 and are currently 15 points off leaders Real Madrid in fifth-place, having won only four of their last 11 matches in the league. Of the five senior forwards in the Atletico squad — Angel Correa is the other in addition to those listed above — Felix has played the fourth-fewest minutes.

The 22-year-old gave an interview with The Athletic recently in which he intimated he knew why the team was performing poorly and irritate his manager in the process. ‘I think we all know what the problem is [with the team], I don’t want to say though,’ Felix said.

‘About what Joao said, you can ask him,’ Simeone responded in a press conference