João Félix signed for Atlético Madrid from Benfica in the summer of 2019. The 21-year-old Portuguese international came off the back of an amazing season with Benfica finishing with 15 goals and seven assists as an 18-year-old. So, naturally, there were huge expectations surrounding his move to the Spanish club. However, it is fair to say that Félix’s time at Atlético Madrid has somewhat been underwhelming. It is also important to note that Félix has missed quite a chunk of games because of injury in his first two seasons at Atlético Madrid.

The following visualisation shows where João Félix ranked for different attacking metrics in his first two seasons at Atlético.

In his first season, the Portuguese forward featured in only 53% of the overall minutes, and that number dropped to less than 50% in 2020/21 when Atlético Madrid won the league. Like mentioned earlier, injuries have played a part in this but if Félix wants to continue his development he needs to stay fit. In terms of goals and assists, it was always going to be difficult for Félix to repeat his Benfica numbers straight away but his six and seven goals in 2019/20 and 2020/21 respectively is still a below-par number for someone of his talent. However, he ranked second for goals scored by U23 players in La Liga last season and was in the top five for the same in 2019/20. When it comes to creativity, Félix ranked above average for Expected Assists and Assists per 90 in 2020/21 and showed massive improvement from his first season. He is also a high volume shooter but not someone who hits the target frequently and that is one aspect he needs to improve upon. Félix has also played as a wide forward at times and if he is going to be used there more often in the long run he needs to improve on his crossing as he ranks below average in that statistic.

Simply put, Félix has had a slow start to life in La Liga. He has shown a lot of promise whenever he has played and if he can stay fit throughout this season, he will definitely be one to watch out for this season.