Running Out of Time

When João Félix arrived in London for the first time, he had an opportunity to begin anew. Having burst onto the scene with Benfica, Félix appeared to be the next midfield superstar, a Jude Bellingham before Bellingham.

Frozen out of the Chelsea squad, the Portuguese talent heads to Italy in hopes of kick starting his career again.

Antoine Griezmann’s transfer to Barcelona gave Atletico Madrid a chance to rebuild Simone’s team. Beating out other European giants to Félix, the two sides appeared ready to become the dominant force in Spain.

The underwhelming season followed an underwhelming season as Simone never fully trusted the youngster. That talent he showed in Portugal never fully translated into anything truly productive in a better league. Loan moves followed before a permanent transfer to Chelsea last summer, with his image dropping. 

Like his Chelsea predecessor, Kai Havertz, Félix never fit into the changing footballing world. Neither an elite creator nor scorer, the Portuguese lacks the ability to play deeper, making his position ambiguous. Coaches attempted to accommodate him, but even his national team seems to have moved on from him. 

Two camps exist when discussing Féliz: one that believes his move to Atleti killed him and the other that believes the potential never existed.

The truth lies somewhere between there and eerily harkens to Renato Sanches.

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Félix highlighted the exciting pipeline of talent emerging from Benfica in the mid-2010s. Benfica has always produced world-class talent, but something about Félix felt different.

Losing Griezmann should have destroyed Atletico. The Frenchman became an icon in the Spanish capital, meaning everything to the club. With his transfer to their title rivals, the club needed to find their next cornerstone. 

Bringing in the highly valued Portuguese youngster signaled to the world that this was a new Atleti, one that aimed to create teams capable of challenging both Barça and Real by bringing in world-class players. Félix broke the mold of Simone’s type of player, but the talent was just too much to ignore.

His time in the Spanish capital never seemed to fulfill what most expected out of him. Simone never built the squad around him, as the player continued to underperform.

In 2022, Chelsea brought the midfielder in to help revive a sinking offense. To his credit, Félix played the best football of his career in London. Rather than staying in London, Barça brought him in on loan, where he also played well but was never in the club’s long-term plans.

With Chelsea looking to move on from Conor Gallagher, the club offered to sell their academy product to bring back in Félix. Both sides appeared to have benefited from this move, but only the Englishman was able to succeed with their new club. Like Simone, Enzo Maresca felt that the Portuguese didn’t fit into his vision of a squad.

Still only 25, Félix may still reach some of the expectations many had hoped for him.

However, his time with Europe’s elite clubs seems to be running out.

Before Félix became the top target of Europe’s elite, Renato Sanches preceded him. Both players rose from Benfica’s academy only to join a footballing world moving away from them.

It’s not a perfect comparison, but Félix plays like a budget Kaka. Tall center attacking midfielders who can create and finish chances. To bring it back to Havertz, this is a dying type, but one that constantly gets fans excited.

With players like that, it is harder to fit into modern tactics, and players are forced to adapt. In Havertz’s case, Arteta pushed him to become a striker. It was not a perfect transition for the German, but it elongated his career at the top.

Félix has yet to show any form of adapting his style to the modern game. While it remains admirable, it has made him a footballing pariah. 

The Portuguese’s numbers tell the story of a player stuck in the middle. For a midfielder, his goalscoring prowess impresses, but he’s never eclipsed double-digit assists or goals. As a passer, he struggles to be a truly elite chance creator despite the talent he’s played with.

This puts him in the same position as Havertz during his years at Chelsea. He’s not good enough to be a lead creator, but he flashes enough potential to act as a striker. By accepting that, Havertz became a key member of a good Arsenal side while Félix struggled for playing time. 

It feels crazy to talk about a young player like this, but his breakout feels so long ago.

The flashes still appear from time to time, but that hope is gone.

As he prepares for life with a struggling Milan, Félix needs for this stint to work. Having burned bright so young, the turmoils of his career are unfortunate.

If he fails to show consistency, the Wolves will be there for him.

PHOTO: TNT Sports/Facebook