Who is Joao Felix? Manchester United should target Joao Felix in the summer transfer window who has been touted as the next Cristiano Ronaldo, but could be the next Antoine Griezmann having played on the wing before moving into a striking position for Benfica under Bruno Lage.
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Born in Viseu in 1999, Joao Felix is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Benfica. He began his youth career at Os Pestinhas before moving to Porto in 2008. After 6 years in Porto’s youth academy playing with the likes of Diogo Dalot, Felix was released due to his “slight frame” and Benfica swooped in for the midfielder. After two and a half years in the Benfica youth setup, Felix was promoted to Benfica B in December at 17 years old. In 6 months, Felix was directly involved in 9 goals in 17 appearances before he was promoted to the senior side. At 18, he made his first team debut and further improved on his youth numbers. In 18 Liga NOS appearances this season, Joao Felix has scored 10 goals and registered 4 assists andBenfica president Filipe Vieira said “He is one of the best products to have emerged from Portuguese football since Cristiano Ronaldo.”
But where does Joao Felix play? In the youth sides for Benfica, Felix primarily operated as an attacking midfielder but as he’s progressed he’s become more versatile and has played on the right, left and both as a lone striker or a second striker in front two. In his first seven appearances for the senior side, Felix played on the left four times, the right twice and at number 10 once, scoring two goals and registering one assist. But the sacking of Rui Vitoria and appointment of Bruno Lage saw Joao Felix given a new role in the team. Lage changed Benfica’s formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-1-1 and played Felix as a second striker behind Haris Seferovic. In 11 games in his new position, Felix has registered four assists and scored a further eight goals! Since his first game in his new position, only Kylian Mbappe has been directly involved in more goals than Joao Felix for players under the age of 21.
Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have played exciting attacking football which would suit Joao Felix and along with Jadon Sacho, United should make the young Portugese star a priority in the summer transfer window. Joao Felix has an €120 million release clause in his contract and Benfica president Filipe Vieira told Tuttosport that the club were not in a rush to sell the latest star on the conveyor belt. Benfica have produced a whole host of attacking talent over the last few seasons – Gonçalo Guedes, Bernardo Silva, Nico Gaitan and Renato Sanches.
Man Utd are set to have a busy summer transfer window in terms of transfers in and out. United must prioritise keeping midfielders Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera as well as purchasing a number of players from the following list: Jadon Sancho, Joao Felix, Kalidou Koulibaly, Ben Godfrey, Samuel Umtiti, Antoine Griezmann and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
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