Joao Felix To Link Up With Ronaldo After Sealing £43.7m Al-Nassr Move

Joao Felix has left English Premier League side Chelsea to join Saudi Pro League team Al-Nassr for an initial £26.2m

Portugal Joao Felix Cristiano Ronaldo
Joao Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo in action for Portugal. Photo: File
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Joao Felix will link up with his Portugal team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, having left Chelsea to join the Saudi Arabian club in a £43.7m deal.

Al-Nassr – who finished third in the Saudi Pro League last season, behind Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal – will reportedly pay Chelsea an initial £26.2m, plus £17.5m in potential add-ons. 

Joao Felix initially joined Chelsea on loan from Atletico Madrid in January 2023, scoring four goals in 20 appearances for the Blues before they declined to make his stay permanent at the end of 2022-23. 

The forward then spent 2023-24 on loan at Barcelona, scoring 10 goals in 44 appearances, before Chelsea brought him back to Stamford Bridge in a permanent £42m deal.

However, Joao Felix failed to nail down a regular place under Enzo Maresca, only starting nine matches in all competitions for them last season before heading to AC Milan for another loan spell in January.

Joao Felix made 11 of his 21 appearances for Milan from the bench, and after they opted against pursuing a permanent move, he outlined his desire to return to former club Benfica.

Talks were held between Benfica and the player's camp, but with the Lisbon giants struggling to finance a transfer, Al-Nassr swooped in to hijack the deal.

Having signed a two-year deal with the Riyadh club, Joao Felix has travelled to Austria to join up with his new team-mates for a pre-season training camp.

His arrival furthers the Portuguese influence at the club, after they hired Jorge Jesus as their new head coach and handed Ronaldo a new two-year contract.

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