The Portuguese

boy wonder

Atletico Madrid’s teen

sensation is the third-most

expensive player of all time

global superstar in waiting or a classic

case of too much too soon?

Recent history shows that it could go

either way as Joao Felix follows in the

footsteps of Bernardo Silva and Renato

Sanches in making the journey from

Benfica’s famed Seixal academy to one

of the world’s biggest, richest and most

high-profile clubs. While Silva is thriving

at Manchester City, Sanches is struggling

to piece his career back together after

three wasted years at Bayern Munich.

With such sharply contrasting

examples to hold up as evidence, the

projected success of Felix’s move to

Atletico Madrid has been heatedly

discussed in the Portuguese media,

with opinions ranging from it being a

natural step up for a generational talent

to it being a bad decision given the

WORDS Tom Kundert

A

PLAYER

BIOGRAPHY