João Félix

João Félix Sequeira (Born 10 November 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Portugal national team. He is known for his speed, finishing, technique, and his dribbling and he can also play as a winger or an attacking midfielder.

Félix initially trained at Porto's youth ranks before moving to rivals Benfica in 2015. He began playing for the latter's reserve team a year later and was promoted to the first-team in 2018, making his professional debut at age 18. He then starred as a goalscorer and helped Benfica win the league title in his first and only season with them, and was 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 19.

Félix's performances sparked the interest of several European clubs, with Atlético Madrid signing him in 2019 for a club-record transfer worth €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. Shortly after, Félix was listed among the shortlist for the Ballon d'Or and finished third for the Kopa Trophy in 2019.

After being capped for Portugal's youth teams at under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Félix made his senior debut in the semi-finals of the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, won by Portugal on home soil.

On 3 July 2019, Félix signed a seven-year contract with Spanish club Atlético Madrid for a transfer fee of €126 million (£113 million), the third-highest sum ever paid in football (this was also Benfica's biggest transfer and Atlético's most expensive signing ever) as well as the second-highest fee ever paid for a teenager (after Kylian Mbappé), with the Spanish club initially paying €30 million and the rest €96 million via installments, thus surpassing Félix's €120 million release clause, and with Benfica paying €12 million in mediation services. Upon his arrival at the club, he was handed the number 7 shirt, previously worn by Antoine Griezmann.

Félix made his competitive debut on 19 August, in a 1–0 victory over Getafe. Despite not scoring a goal, he managed to win a penalty for Atlético after being fouled inside the box, which Álvaro Morata subsequently failed to convert, however. On 25 August, Félix provided an assist for Vitolo in a 1–0 away win over against CD Leganés. He scored his first La Liga goal on 1 September, in a 3–2 victory over Eibar; he was later substituted in the 84th minute for Thomas Parte. On 1 October, Félix scored his first UEFA Champions League goal and set up another goal in a 2–0 away victory against Lokomotiv Moscow, becoming the youngest goalscorer for Atlético Madrid in the competition in the process, at 19 years of age. On 19 October, Félix suffered an ankle injury against Valencia, after a rash challenge by Dani Parejo, leading his with only ten men on the pitch, as his coach Diego Simeone had already made the maximum number of allowed substitutions. Initially, Simeone thought that his injury was not too serious until the club's medical team revealed that the ankle injury could be severe, leading him to be sidelined for one month. Félix made his return on 23 November in a 1–1 away draw against Granada CF. During this time, Félix was one of the 30 candidates who was nominated for the 2019 Ballon d'Or. On 27 November, he became the second Portuguese player, after Renato Sanches, to win the Golden Boy Award for the best player in Europe under the age of 21, ahead of Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho. In December, Félix placed 28th place in the voting polls for the 2019 Ballon d'Or. Over the following months, Félix started to have difficulties in adapting to Diego Simeone's playing style, with Simeone trying to find his ideal position either as a right-winger or second striker; he also struggled with the fact that the forwards under Simeone are expected to press their opponents frequently when playing off the ball, which often left him drained during the match, while when in possession, he was also unable to create scoring chances, leading Spanish newspaper Marca to name him one of the most disappointing transfers of the season.