João Félix has been linked with a summer move to Liverpool to play alongside fellow Portuguese international Diogo Jota.
Atlético Madrid striker/winger Felix was amongst Liverpool fans at the League Cup final penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea at Wembley in February.
Félix, 22, initially trained at Porto’s youth ranks, before moving to Benfica in 2015, later playing for the reserves and promoted to the first-team squad in 2018.
He was part of Benfica’s squad who won the league title and awarded Primeira Liga’s Best Young Player of the Year and the Golden Boy award.
Internationally, he became the youngest ever player to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Europa League, aged 18.
Félix’s performances sparked the interest of several European clubs, with Atlético Madrid signing him in 2019 for a club-record fee of €126 million (£113 million), the fourth-most expensive football transfer, the second-most ever paid for a teenager and the highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league.
Félix was listed among the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or and finished third for the Kopa Trophy in 2019.
In his second season at the club, he helped the team win the 2020–21 La Liga, which ended the club’s seven-year league title drought.
Félix won his first cap for the senior national team, during the semi-finals of the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals.
In 2019, Félix signed a seven-year contract with Atlético Madrid, with the Spanish club initially paying €30 million and €96 million via instalments, surpassing Félix’s €120 million release clause, with Benfica paying €12 million in mediation services.
Upon his arrival to the club he was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Antoine Griezmann, who had joined Barcelona.
After suffering an hamstring injury against Osasuna in November, Félix began falling out with manager Diego Simeone, losing his place and rumored to a potential departure in January.
Atlético Madrid’s president Enrique Cerezo dismissed rumours.
Despite impressing in the 2–0 Champions league win against Real Madrid in the Madrid Derby, after coming from the bench, in December manager Simeone stated he was an important player for the team, ‘but anything can happen in January (transfer window) that came and went, without a move.
Félix, whose parents, Carlos and Carla are both teachers, is in a relationship with Portuguese actress Margarida Corceiro.
He made a donation of equipment to a crowdfunding campaign to a hospital in his hometown in Viseu during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In February 2021, Félix tested positive for COVID-19, amid its pandemic in Spain.
Jota started his career with Paços de Ferreira, before signing for La Liga club Atlético Madrid in 2016.
After two seasons in the Primeira Liga, he was loaned to Primeira Liga club FC Porto in 2016 and Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2017, helping Wolves gain promotion to the Premier League for the first time since 2012.
He subsequently joined the club in July 2018 on a permanent deal for a reported €14 million and went on to make over 100 appearances.
In 2020, Jota signed for Liverpool for a fee reported to be €50 million (£41 million).
Caption: Atlético Madrid star Felix (right) amongst Liverpool fans at League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.
