Should Arsenal sign Joao Felix?
TRANSFERS
In recent weeks Joao Felix has been constantly linked with Arsenal due to his very public disdain for his situation at Spanish giants Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone has not provided Felix with anothing minutes this season, so his agent Jorge Mendes has been spreading his name around trying to find him the right club. Arsenal’s name has come up in all recent transfer rumours with him, so here we are going to analyse whether or not Arsenal should sign the Portuguese talent.
Joao Felix hasn't had a great couple of years at Atletico Madrid. In the last 4 seasons he has played 129 games and has contributed 33 goals and 18 assists. That means he contributes a goal almost every 2.5 games. Which isn't actually that bad considering the fact that he doesn’t even start a lot of the time and is shoehorned into a system that completely stifles his talent. But for a £113 million signing that is nowhere near good enough, you can argue for hours on whether or not he was worth that much but the simple answer is that those numbers are the numbers. What’s even worse is when you just use his goal numbers as a striker, he has the abysmal record of averaging a goal nearly every 4 games.
Felix may not have the best goal scoring record in the past few seasons, but this season he has not been the worst. He scores 0.52 goals per 90 and his tally of 3 goals put him in the 83rd percentile of players in the top 5 leagues.
But where Felix stands out is in his creativity and dribbling. He averages 1.41 key passes per 90 which puts him in the 81st percentile. He averages 3.24 shot creating actions and 2.44 progressive passes per 90 which puts him in the 83rd and 89th percentile respectively. Joao Felix’s ability to carry the ball up the pitch and use his agility to avoid challenges makes him an incredible asset to any team. He will be able to carry the ball on the counter and create opportunities out of nothing. The Portuguese sensation attempts 2.82 dribbles per 90 and completes 0.88 of them per 90 which puts him in the 90th and 79th percentile respectively.
Felix is an amazing dribbler and chance creator. He would surely bolster Arsenal's creative ability and help the Gunners front three score more goals. The former Benfica star would help Arsenal move up the field and get past players easily. Arsenal sometimes have lacked the ability to kill games off and Felix would be an incredible asset in trying to provide chances for the strikers to finish off.
If Felix joined Arsenal he would play either up front or on the left flank. Arsenal do need another striker to cover for Jesus and provide competition but the problem is the fact that he is too similar to Jesus. They are both quite skillful players who are creative and fluid. But Arsenal need a different profile, they need a tall, strong striker who can be used as the primary focus point of Arsenal’s front-line. Marcus Thuram and Tammy Abraham are those kinds of strikers but that is not what Felix plays like.
Felix doesn't have a defined position and coaches don't know how to get the best out of him. Arsenal need any new signing to hit the ground running this season and with Felix, it would be unlikely that would happen. Felix would need to time to adjust and the coaching staff would have to figure out where he would fit in this Arsenal side
Another problem is how much Felix would cost to buy, Atletico want £86 million which would break Arsenal’s transfer record by £20 million. Arsenal cannot afford to splurge such a high fee for such a risky signing. Arsenal have other priorities apart from the attacking position, they need another centre-back, a midfielder and a right -winger. For any deal to be done, Atletico need to lower their price for Arsenal to sign him.
Overall, Felix is a fantastic player, but he would be too much of a gamble for a team who are looking to win the title. By summer we can have another look and see if he has improved and Atletico has lowered their price, but until then, a deal for Joao Felix to Arsenal should not be attempted.
