126 million golden boy turned into a "box office poison"? When talent hits the iron wall of reality

Felix won the award

1. Genius debut: From "Lisbon Boy" to "European Golden Boy" Fairy Tale

In the winter night of 2018, Benfica, Portugal was at home, and 18-year-old Joao Felix scored a hat trick in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. He was like a red lightning, tearing the Frankfurt defense line in 54 minutes, and was called "New Ronaldo" by the media after the game. Two years later, he landed at Atletico Madrid for a sky-high price of 126 million euros, becoming the most expensive Portuguese player in football.

At that time, he was the "football poet" in the hearts of fans - he scored the ball, shot and scored the goal, and directly passed the scalpel. Every move was full of aura. At the 2019 Golden Boy Awards ceremony, he held the trophy and said, "I want children all over the world to believe that dreams can come true." But the turning point of fate often begins after the peak.

Simone and Felix

Simone's "Meat Grinder": The first fall of the genius

Atle Madrid's locker room, there was a slogan "Win or die". Coach Simeone looked at the striker who loves to retreat, his brows became tighter and tighter: "He plays football like he is dancing to tango, but what we need is the Bullfighter!" In the 2019-20 season, Felix only made 15 appearances in La Liga, hovering around several places. His embarrassing story was circulating in the locker room: he missed the tactical explanation because he was addicted to fancy styles during training, and was scolded by Simeone in public after the game: "Do you think this is Disneyland?"

Injury and tactical conflicts are like two mountains. In the three years before joining, he missed 32 games due to muscle strains, and Atletico Madrid's "all-playing system" made him exhausted. Fans began to mock: "Felix? Oh, that striker who only goes back to drink water!"

Billion yuan Golden Boy Wandering Journey

The Footprints of the Wanderer: The "Phantom of Redemption" from London to Barcelona

In the winter window of 2023, Chelsea brought him back to the Premier League with 52 million euros. In his debut against Fulham, he stepped on his opponent and became the first person to win the Premier League debut in the team. Fans joked: "I bought a red card manufacturing machine for 126 million yuan!"

After half a year of transfer to Barcelona, ​​he briefly recovered his form: 10 goals and 6 assists in 44 games, scoring twice against Atletico Madrid and celebrating. But when Barcelona refused to pay the 80 million euro buyout fee, he knew that the "fairy tale" was over.

The winter in Milan became the last straw that broke the camel's back. In February 2025, he made his debut with a No. 79 jersey and scored, and fans cheered for the "Golden Boy's Return". But in the next 18 games, he seemed to have been cast a curse - 15 starts, 0 goals and 0 assists, and was even photographed practicing shooting alone after training, but the ball repeatedly slipped past the goal.

Analysis of the "fall code" of the golden boy: the three fatal injuries of the genius

1. Technology "Vase": Gorgeous Danger

Felix's dribble is like a work of art, but the ending efficiency is terrible. The best season of his career (2020-21) La Liga shots 127 times and scored 7 goals, with a conversion rate of only 5.5%, twice the average conversion rate of La Liga in the same period (11.3%). Fans complained: "He was playing waltz in a portrait, and his shot was playing scratch!"

2. Psychological "glass man": The broken golden boy's filter

From "Royce's successor" to "high-priced parallel goods", the repeated jumps of the media made him worry about gains and losses. Before the key Champions League match, he privately said to his teammates: "If I lose the ball again, you just think I'm dead." This self-doubt makes him frequently invisible in important games.

Felix and Ronaldo

3. The "displaced" of the era: The dusk of classical midfielders

Guardiola's pass-and-control football requires front-middle connection, Klopp's high-pressure pressing relies on wingers to explode, and Felix's classical midfielder style is like holding a spear against a tank - in 2024, the UEFA Nations League vs. Croatia, he lost the ball 12 times in the game, and was complained by Benfica's old player Jota: "He is still playing football with the script from 2010!"

So, how can a genius avoid the "Felix trap"?

Lesson 1: Don't let your talent starve to death in the "Golden Boy Filter"

Haaland was also questioned when he first joined Dortmund, but Lewandowski told him: "Score the ball, and the doubts will naturally disappear." On the other hand, Felix was lost in the expectation of "next Ronaldo" and forgot the simplest truth of football: goals are the bottom line.

Lesson 2: Find your own "tactical breathing space"

Di Maria and Modric transformed into midfield dispatch, and Di Maria transformed into a roadside explosive point, all of which were reborn. If Felix could focus on the role of "freedom" in a certain team (such as the free midfielder in Benfica's period), he might have a chance to salvation. Lesson 3: Stay away from the narrative of "injuring Zhongyong" and reshape psychological resilience. Mbappe during the Monaco era was called "relying on his body" when he scored a goal in Monaco at the age of 16. He is now a quasi-Blonde. Felix needs to learn: the growth of genius is an epic competing with doubts.

The rules of survival in football: There is no eternal genius, only eternal evolution

When Felix practices shooting at the Milan training ground, on the next court, 18-year-old Enderick is conquering fans with a barb. This scene is very similar to the cruel fable of the football world - the old gods are old and the new gods are rising, and the middle ground is the thorny road paved by countless "Felixes" with their youth.

Milan Felix

Perhaps as the "Team" said: "Football does not need perfect genius, it only needs to do the right thing at the right time." And Felix's story proves that when the times abandon you, even a sigh will not be left!