The Joao Felix: Biography, Early Life, Career & More Information on the New Chelsea Player.

Biography of Joao Felix? before we talk about that in detail, for football lovers all over the world, the thought of their belove football club bringing in a new world class player is always going to give the feeling of Nostalgia.

At this moment, I would say that is the exact feeling which the fans of the English Premier League Club, Chelsea Football Club of England are currently having as their belove club finalizes the signing of the highly talented Portugal intentional football star, Joao Felix from Spanish club, Atletico Madrid.

Joao Felix as many Football fans will tell you, is talented and very much versatile on the football pitch. But since breaking into the Football scene from Benfica’s reserve team and signing on to Atletico De Madrid, his form and career have been under the microscope from lovers of Football around the world. Safely, a fan can posit that, the career of Joao Felix has not “gone to plan”, considering the early signs he showed while still a youngster at Benfica.

Today, i, have decided to give in to so many requests from fans of the London Based Football Club, Chelsea Football Club, to write about the biography, early life, career, and more information about Joao Felix, the Portugal international winger who just joined Chelsea Football Club of England, from Spanish La Liga side, Atletico De Madrid, permanently.

Full names are Joao Felix Sequeira, born on November 10, 1999, to Mr Carlos, and Mrs Carla. Mr and Mrs Félix are both School teachers in Viseu, Portugal which is also where Joao Félix was born.

Joao Félix has a 16 years old younger brother, Hugo Félix playing for Benfica’s youth ranks as at the time of writing this article. Joao Félix has also spoken highly of his sibling Hugo Félix.

In 2015, Joao Félix joined Benfica reserve team. Prior to that move, he trained with FC Porto’s youth academy. One year after joining the Benfica’s reserve team, Joao Félix was promoted to the first team squad at age 17, in 2018. He made his debut with Benfica that same season and also helped the club to win the Primeira Liga title in that same season which is his only season with the club also.

He won the Primeira Liga’s Best Young Player of the year and also Golden Boy award in the same season. Joao Félix went on to sign for Spanish La Liga giants, Atletico Madrid in 2019, at the age of 19 years old, for a club record transfer worth €126 million Euros (£113 million Pounds Sterling), becoming the fourth most expensive football transfer in the world, at the time. In his second season with Atletico Madrid, 2020-2021, he helped the team to end their seven years title drought as there beat city rivals Real Madrid to become the Spanish La Liga Champions.

Internationally, Joao Félix is a Portugal youth international as he has represented his country at Under-18, Under-19, and Under-21 levels. He made his international debut with the Portuguese senior national team in 2019, earning his first cap for the team during the semi-finals of the 2019 UEFA Nations League. He was able to help the team in winning the inaugural edition of that competition, doing so, on home soil.

Joao Félix was born in Viseu, Portugal. His parents Carlos and Carla are both School teachers who have just two children, Joao Félix and his younger brother, Hugo Félix. Joao Félix is the eldest brother amongst the two. During an interview, he revealed that while growing up, he idolized players like Kaka and Rui Costa. Stating that, he looked to emulate the slick Brazilian, Kaka, while growing up as a child.

Joao Félix was with the FC Porto academy before moving to Benfica’s youth team in 2015. His superb showings at the reserve team of Benfica, got him a promotion to the first team at just 17, where he helped the team to win the title. He spent just one season with the Benfica first team before he was signed by Atletico Madrid for a club record fee.

Though his relationship life have always been very private, he was in a relationship with Portuguese actress, Margarida Corceiro until May 2023, when the pair broke up.

He is regarded as a very technically gifted and highly skilful player who is capable of playing across the offensive front, due to his immense versatility on the field of play. Joao Félix have over the course of his young career, been deployed as a Striker, support striker, winger, and central midfielder. Though, it is safe to note that his main position on the field, is as an attacking midfielder.

The Portuguese international started his football career at Os Pestinhas in 2007. He joined the Fc Porto youth rank a year later, at the age of eight. His stay with the FC Porto youth teams was a challenging one for the player as he revealed during an interview, that he “considered quitting football due to some of the challenges” he had to face at such an early age which, are not limited to extensive schedules such as long shuttle hours moving To-and-Fro Porto and Viseu. This resulted in him moving out of his parents’ house at the age of 12 to live closer to Porto’s youth training grounds, but his father convinced him not to give up and pursue his football career with utmost focus and passion.

Though there were claims that FC Porto had to release him from their ranks in 2014 due to his slight frame, the player himself had denied the claims stating that, he left the FC Porto system out of his own will. Joao moved on to FC Porto’s Lisbon rivals, Benfica, in 2015, aged 15 after a season long loan at Padroense.

On 17 September 2016, at the age of 16, Joao Félix debuted for the Benfica reserve team in the LigaPro, as an 83rd minute substitute for Aurelio Buta against Freamunde. The match ended in a goalless draw. Felix was the youngest player to debut for Benfica B at the time. That record is said to have now been broken, in 2021, by Cher Ndour.

While with the Benfica B team, he scored three goals, playing in 13 matches on his debut season. In his second season with the Benfica B team, he scored a wonderful hattrick in a 5-0 win over Famalicao, on 30 January, 2018. He, during that season played in the 2016-2017 UEFA Youth League. He was instrumental in Benfica reaching the final of the competition, but they lost to RB Salzburg in the final. He ended the tournament with an impressive 6 goals.

Joao Félix was then promoted to the Benfica first team for the 2018-2019 League season. He made his debut for the team in a 2-0 win at Boavista on 18 August, in the Premeira Liga. He became the youngest player to score in the Lisbon Derby a week later, as he helped Benfica secure a 1-1 draw. The goal was also his first Primeira Liga goal. On January 16, 2019, he scored the qualifying goal in the Portuguese Cup Quarter finals, against Vitória de Guimarães.

Joao Félix became a regular in the Benfica team when Bruno Lage took over as coach of the team. Bruno Lage decided to partner him with Harris seferovic in Benfica’s attack. The decision came as a result of the bad run of form of Facundo Ferreyra and Nicolas Castillo, and also the injury to Jonas. Félix had a very impressive campaign in general, getting lots of praises from fans and scouts for his sleak displays in Benfica’s attacks.

He became the youngest player (19 years and 152 days) ever, to score a hattrick in the UEFA Europa League on 11 April 2019, after scoring a hattrick in the win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the competition, besting the record of Marko Pjaca by 67 days.

He ended the season with an impressive 20 goals for Benfica, scoring 1 on the final day of the League campaign in his team’s 4-1 win against Santa Clara, to crown Benfica the Champions. Joao Félix had 15 Primeira Liga goals for that season, that made him the joint fourth top scorer for the season. Joao Felix was ranked second behind Kai Havertz and Jadon Sancho respectively, for goals and assists across Europe 7 best leagues.

Moving on to big things in life is the target of every human being on earth. I believe that was the thought that went on in the heart of Joao Félix when he accepted a transfer to Atletico Madrid, signing a 7 years contract in the process on 3rd July, 2019. The completion of that transfer agreement had so many football fans across the world, biting their thumbs, questioning the reasoning behind Joao Félix accepting the proposal of Atletico Madrid with coach Diego Simeone, and his defensive playstyle over the other rumored clubs around Europe who were lining up for his signature.

Going into his Atletico Madrid career with the eyes of the football world on him, considering his new tag of the fourth highest sum ever paid as a transfer fee for a single football player in the world with the amount in question being €126 million Euros (£113 million Pounds Sterling), it was safe to say, “he had a whole lot of pressure on his shoulders”, to live up to his new reality. He was given the number 7 jersey upon his arrival to the club, a number which was previously won by Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann had made a switch to Barcelona to make way for Félix arrival at Atletico Madrid, and this i can say, increased the pressure he had to put up with, as he was touted by Fans of the Madrid based club as the replacement for their legendary France international, Antoine Griezmann.

Joao Félix after the transfer from Benfica, made his debut with Atletico Madrid in their 1-0 victory over Getafe, on August 19, 2019. Though he didn’t get on the score sheet in his debut match, he, as a result of his sleak and sublime way of playing earned a penalty kick for Atletico having been fouled inside the penalty box. Álvaro Morata took the penalty kick, and failed to convert from the spot.

On September 1, he scored his first goal in the Spanish LA Liga to help Atletico Madrid defeat league opponent, Eibar, before he was substituted in the 84th minute for Ghana international midfielder, Thomas Partey.

Félix kept his good start with Atletico Madrid going as he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal and also assisted Thomas Partey on the second goal as Atletico Madrid secured a victory in the UEFA Champions League against Russian club side, Lokomotiv Moscow. His goal, made him Atletico Madrid’s youngest goal scorer in the UEFA Champions League, aged 19 years old and 325 days, a record previously held by Argentine international striker, Kun Aguero who, had netted his first goal in the UEFA Champions League against PSV in 2008, aged 20 years and 106 days.

Joao Félix, during a match with Valencia on 19 October 2019, suffered a serious ankle injury after a rash tackle by Dani Parejo. Félix injury in the match, meant his team had to finish the game with just 10 players as coach Diego Simeone had already exhausted his number of substitutions allowed.

Though Diego Simeone initially felt the injury to Joao Félix wasn’t that serious, he was brought back down to reality after the clubs medical department revealed that the ankle injury to Félix was in fact, severe. The injury meant he was sidelined for one whole month before making his return back to the team on November 23, in his team’s 1-1 draw away to Granada. It’s important to note that, due to his impressive form and showings during the course of the season, Joao Félix was one of the 30 nominees for the 2019 Ballon d’Or.

He was named the Golden Boy Award winner for the best player in Europe under the age of 21, on 27 November 2019, becoming the second Portuguese player to win the award after Renato Sanches. He defeated Jadon Sancho of Borussia Dortmund to claim the award. He was placed 28 in the voting polls for the 2019 Ballon d’Or, in December, 2019.

His Atletico Madrid woes will start off over the following months as he started having difficulties adapting to the demanding play style of coach, Diego Simeone, with the coach trying his best to find an ideal position for Joao Félix in his system, playing him as a right winger or second striker. Joao Félix struggles didn’t just end there, as he also had series of problems with the demand of Diego Simeone, for his forwards to frequently press their opponents when playing off the ball. This left him often drained during matches, as he also had difficulties creating scoring chances in this system. His struggles led Spanish newspaper Marca, to tag him one of the most disappointing transfers of the 2019-2020 season.

On 26 January 2020, he suffered a second injury during a 0-0 home draw against Leganés, keeping him on the sideline once again, for a month. He made his injury return on 23 February, replacing Vitolo on the 57th minute, and scoring the third goal as Atletico Madrid clinched a 3-1 home win against Villarreal.

On 27 September 2020, in Atlético’s La Liga opening fixture, Félix scored, provided an assist and managed to win a penalty for his team after being fouled inside the penalty box (Saúl Ñíguez subsequently failed to convert the spot kick), as Atletico went on to seal a 6–1 win against Granada. On 27 October, he scored a brace in a 3–2 win over Red Bull Salzburg in the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League group stage.

Following back-to-back braces against Osasuna and Cádiz in La Liga, he was named the league’s Player of the Month for November 2020. On 1 December, Félix scored against European champions Bayern Munich as his side drew 1–1. On 24 January 2021, he headed in a corner to equalise for Atlético in their 3–1 win over Valencia, scoring his first league goal in over two months. He was infected with COVID-19 in February, which forced him to miss Atlético’s next fixtures against Celta Vigo and Granada. He returned on 17 February, appearing in a 1–1 away draw against Levante.

Due to a succession of injuries and lack of game time, Félix lost his starting place in attack to Ángel Correa, Luis Suárez, Thomas Lemar, and Yannick Carrasco, as he had been playing since November with an injury. At the end of the season, he had made 31 league appearances, scoring 7 goals and providing 6 assists, as Atletico won their first La Liga title in seven years.

Félix missed Atlético’s first three matches of the 2021–22 season, as he continued to rehabilitate from the ankle injury he had been suffering since November. He made his return from injury on 12 September, replacing Antoine Griezmann in the 58th minute in a 2–1 away victory against Espanyol. On 18 September, Félix was sent off in the 78th minute in a 0–0 home draw against Athletic Bilbao, for calling the referee “crazy”, leading him to receive a two-match ban.

Félix began regaining his place in the team, following his performances in Atlético’s next three matches, creating both of Atlético goals, in a 2–0 home victory in La Liga against Barcelona on 2 October, as well assisting Antoine Griezmann second goal in a 2–3 home defeat against Liverpool in the Champions League on 19 October and assisting Luis Suárez first goal in a 2–2 home draw against Real Sociedad in La Liga on 24 October.

He scored his first goal of the season on 31 October, in a 3–0 home win against Real Betis. For his performances in October, Félix was awarded Atlético Madrid Player of the Month by the club’s supporters.

After suffering a hamstring injury following a league game against Osasuna on 20 November, Félix began falling out with manager Diego Simeone, losing his place as a starter. This would lead to him being rumoured to a potential departure from the club in January, which Atlético Madrid’s president Enrique Cerezo dismissed.

Despite impressing in the 2–0 loss to rivals Real Madrid in the Madrid derby, after coming from the bench, on 17 December manager Diego Simeone stated that he was an “important player for the team, but “anything can happen” in January. He would be given an opportunity from the manager in the starting line against Granada on 22 December, scoring a goal and having another disallowed in a 2–1 loss.

On 19 February 2022, Félix made his 100th appearance for the club, opening the scoring and provided an assist in Atletico’s 3–0 away win over Osasuna. The following match, on 23 February, Félix scored Atlético’s opening goal in a 1–1 home draw over Manchester United at the first leg of Champions League round-of-16 tie. In the reverse fixture, on 15 March, Félix created Renan Lodi’s goal, which was assisted by Antoine Griezmann, to help Atlético defeat Manchester United 1–0 at Old Trafford and qualify to the quarter-finals, securing a 2–1 aggregate win. The following six matches, after scoring six goals and providing two assists, Félix was awarded in March, the league’s Player of the Month award.

On 17 April, during a match against Espanyol, Félix suffered a hamstring injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. At the end of the season, Félix was awarded Atlético Madrid’s Player of the Season award, named by the club’s supporters, after finishing the campaign with 10 goals and 6 assists.

As the 2022-2023 La Liga season kicked off in Spain, Joao Félix started the season on 15 August, 2022 with a bang as he started his season by providing a hattrick of assist (for the first time in his football career) as Atletico Madrid stroll past Getafe with a 3-0 away win. The feat made Joao Félix to also become the third Portuguese player to provide three assists in a single match in La Liga.

The next months wasn’t so pleasing for Joao Félix at the club as he had a difficult relationship with coach Diego Simeone over the next matches. Their relationship further deteriorated on 10 October during the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, playing against Club Brugge. After being told to warm up three times by Simeone, Joao ended up as an unused substitute in the match. This incident made him so angry that he asked his agent Jorge Mendes to find him a new club during the winter transfer window as he was now firmly the fifth choice attacker behind Ángel Correa, Antoine Griezmann, Matheus Cunha, and Alvaro Morata. He featured sporadically for Atletico over the next matches. One of those features was on 29 October away to Cádiz, where Félix came on as a 60th minute substitute and scored a brace in the match which Atletico lost, 3-2. He however, was named “Man of The Match”.

Much was his desire to leave Atletico Madrid, and also the clubs desire to push him on that, Joao Félix joined Chelsea Football Club of England on a 6 months loan on 11 January 2023. Though he extended his contract with Atletico till 2027, that decision was made so Atletico doesn’t loose his value after the loan spell, when potential buyers line up if his loan went extremely well in the English Premier League.

On his debut for Chelsea FC in the Premier League on 12 January, against Fulham, Joao Félix got a straight red card for his tackle against Kenny Tete and receiving a three match ban in the process. Chelsea also lost the match with a 2-1 scoreline.

He returned from to the team after his three match ban, on 11 February against West Ham United. He scored his first goal for Chelsea in the match which, they ended up drawing 1-1. He ended up with 4 goals in 20 appearances for Chelsea Football Club.

He had to return to Atletico after his loan period as Atletico president Enrique Cerezo revealed that new Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino had opted against signing the player for his team.

Joao Félix returned to Atletico Madrid, and joined the teams preseason in July. News came out that he almost had a tense exchange with Atletico Madrid sporting director Andrea Berta, and resulted in him ordered to train with the reserve team, away from the first team.

On 18th July during an interview with Fabrizio Romano, he irked the clubs fan base and hierarchy as he revealed that he would like to join Barcelona. The decision to make such statement while still an Atletico Madrid player resulted in Félix not playing a single game for the club during their preseason friendlies. He got whistled by the Atletico supporters any time he made an appearance at the Metropolitano Stadium. He also saw his shirt number, 7, given to Antoine Griezmann who was on loan from Barcelona.

He joined Barcelona on loan from Atletico Madrid on September 1 alongside his international team mate João Cancelo. Félix had a very good season with Barcelona, and even scored against Atletico Madrid, his parent club, both home and away. Becoming the first player to score against Atletico Madrid, home and away, in the same La Liga season.

He ended his season with Barcelona with 44 official appearances, 2143 minutes played, 10 goals scored for the club.

On 21 August 2024, Félix returned to Chelsea, signing for them on a seven-year contract for a fee of €52 million (£42 million) plus €5 million (£4.3 million) in add-ons, and Conor Gallagher moving in the other direction on a permanent transfer.