Joao Felix took his whole switch price to round $260 million Tuesday when finishing his newest transfer — this time to Saudi Arabian membership Al Nassr.
The Portugal ahead has teamed up with compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, becoming a member of from Chelsea for a reported preliminary charge of 30 million euros ($34.6 million) and signing a two-year contract.
“I’m right here to unfold pleasure. Let’s win collectively,” Felix mentioned in a video saying his arrival, shared on Al Nassr’s social media channels.
He’s the newest star participant from Europe to maneuver to Saudi Arabia as a part of the dominion’s bid to develop into a significant power in soccer. However his switch from Membership World Cup winner Chelsea is the newest in an extended line of strikes for a participant who holds the file for the fourth costliest signing in historical past, however has did not dwell as much as the expectations positioned on him so early in his profession.
Nonetheless solely 25, Felix has time to hit the heights he appeared destined for when becoming a member of Spanish big Atletico Madrid from Benfica for $140 million in 2019. However his profession has stalled since then with a collection of loans to high groups together with Chelsea, Barcelona and most just lately AC Milan failing to see him set up himself among the many very elite.
In accordance switch date web site Transfermarkt, Felix is behind solely Neymar (222 million euros ($256 million)), Kylian Mbappe (180m euros ($208 million)) and Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele (each 135m euros ($155.8 million)) on the checklist of highest switch charges in soccer.
His worth has dropped considerably — becoming a member of Chelsea for a reported $60 million final yr, together with his charge virtually halving once more to affix Al Nassr.
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The transfer to Saudi Arabia is just not assured to reignite his profession. Whereas some have flourished, together with the likes of Ronaldo and Aleksandar Mitrovic, Neymar left after an injury-disrupted time at Al-Hilal and Jordan Henderson and Jhon Duran solely stayed for months earlier than shifting on.
Al Nassr will hope Felix’s arrival will see it win the title it has been ready for since signing Ronaldo in a spectacular transfer late in 2022.
Whereas the Portugal nice has helped increase the profile of Saudi Arabian soccer and continued to attain at a prolific charge, he has needed to watch rivals Al Ittihad (twice) and Al-Hilal topped champion throughout his time within the league.