João Félix

[hammersmithlad]

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2019/...an-utd-in-transfer-battle-for-105m-wonderkid/

Take this with a pinch of salt as it’s probably a re-hashed report & it’s also international footie week so columns need to be filled!

 

[Metalartin]

£105m for a Portuguese AM/CF wonderkid?

That probably rules us out with the FFP vultures circling. I'm not even sure we would have gone in for him, even if we aren't worried about any of it though, judging by some of Pep's comments on those sorts of transfer amounts. He will probably end up at Real Madrid IMO.

If we were in for him, this highlights why the whole FFP mess needs to be resolved though, UEFA need to hurry up and come to their conclusion before summer arrives.

Let us know if we have done anything wrong, if not we can move on everyone draws a line under it and we try and be transparent to UEFA. This would be to avoid them having the excuse to have a long, drawn out in the public domain, witch hu... I mean "investigation". If they believe we have done something, we either accept punishment and move on or prove we haven't or we take the whole thing to court if we believe they are taking the piss.

To make sure there isn't a repeat, we should also complain to the CAS, that they(UEFA acting on behalf of the clubs writing pissy letters, telling them what to do... like Liverpool) are using this process as a tactic to muddy the waters in our transfer business(thus our plans for the future, thus slowing us down quite deliberately), so we can't compete for the top signings which are time sensitive matters, even though we have the money.

 

[Plain Speaking]

Express running story, about 6am this morning, suggesting he's more likely to want to go to RM or Barca than a PL club, because he's reportedly said it's a more attractive league for him? However he's currently happy at Benfica.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Kids don't go on to achieve their potential all the time. But he is the best youth player I've seen since Messi.

Whatever that's worth. At a minimum, I think he'll be a good player at a top club. But his ceiling is higher than Sane's. And many believe Sane has Balon d'or potential.

If we can, buy him. Even if it means a loan back for 1 more year :)

I completely agree. The kid is incredible.

 

[Tb1981]

I completely agree. The kid is incredible.

We should go all out this summer and get a left back centre mid de ligt and maybe felix/Jovic and wan bassaka but leave them for a year
Sort the team for next few years
Then take a transfer ban!

 

[Dazzle84]

Just watched the video at the beginning of the thread - eyes in the back of his head.

He looks the real deal from that - if we got him he'd have a year or two of learning some tricks from Kun too - looks a centre forward in the making to me

 

[Andrew___K]

You have described him in perfect detsde with the higlighighl. His vision and confidence are unreal. In the end I expect a Suarez type trajectory. A support striker who ends up a #9. And an unplayable one at that.

While I don't consider Mbappe potential anymore, when he broke into Lyon's first team, it felt like I was a smarter younger Henry, which was amazing. Felix gives me the sense I'm watching the vision of Messi in a bigger body.

He is Suarez with Messi's vision. Potential here is higher than I've seen on anyone breaking into a 1st team.

Granted this is not proof he'll pan out. There was a kid at Bilbao who had unbelievable potential Iker Muniain. He turned out a good player eventually but never peaked. Isco had similar unbelievable potential, and he too turned out just a good player.

In the end youthful potential is just that, potential. But this guy Ticks the boxes for me.

Btw, the comparison to Kaka, comes from the smoothness of movement. While Kaka was super fast you often couldn't tell, unless you were paying attention to the guy he was leaving in the dust, because he was so so smooth. :)

Anyway, I really like what I see in this kid.

I think your Suarez comparisons are too optimistic and way off the mark.
Take a note of his general off-the ball behavior - he just strolls between the lines, waiting for the ball to come to his feet and letting others do all the legwork. I don't see a basic striker's ability to lose his marker.
Same problem in the defensive phase: Felix is not energetic enough for effective pressing, Jesus is on another planet in this regard.

I'm inclined to think his workrate and off-the-ball movement aren't good enough for a CF. Why would Pep bring in a young forward that can't press like a madman?

He can play as inside forward for City if his wing is occupied by a proper attacking fullback (and we have only one in Mendy right now). But not sure if it's worth the hassle. He can play as 8/10, but we've got enough of them.

 

[Blue Llama]

In 15 league games so far he has 8 goals and 5 assists, I think that's enough to make people take note

One word - Bony

 

[WallyA]

One word - Bony

True, just looking at stats isn't enough. Videos of Bony showed HOW he got his goals, and it is completely unsuited to a top level team.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

I think your Suarez comparisons are too optimistic and way off the mark.
Take a note of his general off-the ball behavior - he just strolls between the lines, waiting for the ball to come to his feet and letting others do all the legwork. I don't see a basic striker's ability to lose his marker.
Same problem in the defensive phase: Felix is not energetic enough for effective pressing, Jesus is on another planet in this regard.

I'm inclined to think his workrate and off-the-ball movement aren't good enough for a CF. Why would Pep bring in a young forward that can't press like a madman?

He can play as inside forward for City if his wing is occupied by a proper attacking fullback (and we have only one in Mendy right now). But not sure if it's worth the hassle. He can play as 8/10, but we've got enough of them.

You've just described Messi, bud. Read it back...