July 30 – Portuguese nomad Joao Felix`s next destination is Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, the Riyadh club have confirmed, taking the total value of transfer fees he has generated over his career up to $260 million.
In the Saudi capital, Felix will team up with Cristiano Ronaldo on a reported two-year contract for a fee of $34 million. He departs London-based Chelsea.
“I’m here to spread joy. Let’s win together,” Félix said in a video announcing his arrival, shared on Al Nassr’s social media channels.
Ronaldo kickstarted the Saudi Pro League’s transfer boom and spend, but while Felix is the latest European arrival, his transfer makes the Portuguese the fourth highest transfer spend generating player in history. Felix is behind only Neymar ($256 million), Kylian Mbappe ($208 million) and Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele ($155.8 million), according to figures from Transfermarkt.
Yet, Felix, who played for a series of major European clubs, including Atletico Madrid, FC Barcelona and AC Milan, never lived up to expectations. Early on, the player was hyped as the new superstar of Portuguese football and the heir to Ronaldo. In 2019, he moved from Benfica to Atletico Madrid in a deal worth more than $100 million but his career quickly became a series of loan spells with underwhelming performances.
Felix has already joined his new club at their training camp in Austria, with Al Nassr promoting his arrival heavily on social media. He will be expected to be a leader in Al Nassr’s title challenge. Since Ronaldo’s arrival, the club have not won the Saudi Pro league.
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