João Félix

[BBZ8800]

What worries me about this kid is that:
1. He is not a pure 9
2. And historically, iirc, Portugal has never created a world class Cf outside of a Cr7.
I know, each player is unique.

But still, Barca is good in creating technical midfielders and we rarely produce awesome Cbs.

Portugal isn't known for producing good Cfs, this kid is not a Cf, and a Portuguese league probably produced the highest percentage of fails in the last 10 years.

Not to mention that historically Barca-Portugal connection never produced anything good.
Except Deco, but he was born as a Brasilian, and Barca-Brasil percentage of success is way better.

 

[Messi983]

2. And historically, iirc, Portugal has never created a world class Cf outside of a Cr7.

Eusebio. But yeah, that was 50 years ago.

And Pedro Pauleta was probably their best striker in recent history if we don't count Ronaldo who started and played most of his career as a winger.

You have a point though. Portugal is more known for producing good wingers than strikers.

 

[BBZ8800]

And Pedro Pauleta was probably their best striker in recent history if we don't count Ronaldo who started and played most of his career as a winger.

You have a point though. Portugal is more known for producing good wingers than strikers.

Pauleta had 58 matches, 18 goals for Deportivo.
For comparison, Rivaldo had 68:36 ratio in those two seasons.
Kluivert had 61:30.
Raul had 71:42.

Diego Tristan, who replaced Pauleta at Deportivo had 63 matches, 40 la liga goals in the next 2 seasons.

So, he was far from a killer striker in La Liga.

Again, I know, each player is a unique case.
But if Felix would have been a Cf who is banging goals like crazy, then fine.
But this reminds me of Coutinho, Arda and Griezmann.
A good player who plays on a position which doesn't exist in our formation.

Personally, I would like someone who is a Cf.
Not false 9s or guys who could be turned into Cfs.

Suarez was an attacker from an early age.
Someone who is not playing on that position, except Cr7, will never have those killer instincts.

 

[MTL_Barca]

At that age Suarez was playing most of his games at LW/RW for Ajax, so it's not like he was born a pure CF either and it was similar for other strikers as well.

But yeah Felix doesn't seem to be a real lone striker type of player. Depends what we are looking for. Felix would be a huge risk no matter what tho, he is a special player that could end up as one of the very best but he could also flop completely.

 

[Messi983]

Pauleta had 58 matches, 18 goals for Deportivo.
For comparison, Rivaldo had 68:36 ratio in those two seasons.
Kluivert had 61:30.
Raul had 71:42.

Diego Tristan, who replaced Pauleta at Deportivo had 63 matches, 40 la liga goals in the next 2 seasons.

So, he was far from a killer striker in La Liga.

Again, I know, each player is a unique case.
But if Felix would have been a Cf who is banging goals like crazy, then fine.
But this reminds me of Coutinho, Arda and Griezmann.
A good player who plays on a position which doesn't exist in our formation.

Personally, I would like someone who is a Cf.
Not false 9s or guys who could be turned into Cfs.

Suarez was an attacker from an early age.
Someone who is not playing on that position, except Cr7, will never have those killer instincts.

Deportivo had Roy Makaay as their main striker at that time when they also won La Liga. After that Pauleta did very well in Ligue 1 for Bordeaux and PSG.

I'm not saying Pauleta was worldclass but I've liked him and he was a good player at his prime. From what I can remember he's the best Portuguese striker over the last 15-20 years (again, if we don't count CR as a striker) who had some kind of success outside of their own league which we can't say for the likes of Nuno Gomes or Helder Postiga. He's still the second best scorer (and will stay that for a while) for Portugal NT and his average goal/match ratio (0,53) is just a bit below Cristiano's (0,55). Obviously CR with almost double NT caps and goals scored.

Now if Felix's ceilling is Pauleta I wouldn't pay 80M+ for him but I think he can and will be better. I agree that while Messi is still here (with Felix usually operating in the same area) he could be a player without a clear position/role in the team and not Suarez replacement we want/need. But pure CF market is very dire and a lot of other top clubs will also look for younger strikers to replace their ageing ones this or next summer so if Barça believes he can develop into a #9 role then I think he's worth a shot. We'll eventually have to risk with someone as I don't think we can go into another season with Suarez as our only real CF option.

 

[Laplacian]

Eusebio. But yeah, that was 50 years ago.

And Pedro Pauleta was probably their best striker in recent history if we don't count Ronaldo who started and played most of his career as a winger.

You have a point though. Portugal is more known for producing good wingers than strikers.

Eusebio was born and raised in Mozambique, not Portugal. He left for Benfica at the age of 18. Don't think you can credit Portugal for producing him.

 

[Laplacian]

Eusebio. But yeah, that was 50 years ago.

And Pedro Pauleta was probably their best striker in recent history if we don't count Ronaldo who started and played most of his career as a winger.

You have a point though. Portugal is more known for producing good wingers than strikers.

Eusebio was born and raised in Mozambique, not Portugal. He left for Benfica at the age of 18. Don't think you can credit Portugal for producing him.

 

[khaled_a_d]

Now if Felix's ceilling is Pauleta I wouldn't pay 80M+ for him but I think he can and will be better. I agree that while Messi is still here (with Felix usually operating in the same area) he could be a player without a clear position/role in the team and not Suarez replacement we want/need. But pure CF market is very dire and a lot of other top clubs will also look for younger strikers to replace their ageing ones this or next summer so if Barça believes he can develop into a #9 role then I think he's worth a shot. We'll eventually have to risk with someone as I don't think we can go into another season with Suarez as our only real CF option.

Felix fit into the team can be surely questioned, he is a forward but not true CF. That can cause problems for sure.
And yeah, BBZ raise some fair concerns tbh


That being said, 2 things need to be pointed
1-Griezmann was basically same profile -style wise- and we were after him last year, which shows we think he can fit into the team with Messi. Now I myself was against Griez for that reason but the team might have an idea of how to utilize a player like Felix.

2-The guy seem to know how to score goals, which is the most important aspect in the game. You can have all the great midfielder or defenders in the world but you aren't winning a thing if you don't have that one guy -at least- that can give you ton of goals every year, finish off games for when you are bad.
Felix looks like this guy and some more with his vision, his finishing and off the ball movement is just something else for a guy of his age. I don't think we have anyone who is younger than 31 who can be this guy as I see Dembele more of a Hazard regarding scoring, fine as long as he isn't your main goal scorer.

At the end -as you said- whoever we are gonna sign is gonna be huge risk, no attacker who is worth to be considered a candidate to replace Suarez is gonna cost less than 70M in this market

 

[BBZ8800]

Nuno Gomes or Helder Postiga.

Also Joao Pinto.
Pauleta was good, but that's it, far from Barca's level.

Also, if you look at those players, they are all closer to some lighter, more technical forwards.
And far from classic 9s from that era like Batistuta, Crespo, Trezeguet, Ruud, Kluivert, Makaay.
I don't know why, but when I was a teen back then, I always liked that tall, strong, lethal Cfs and never liked lighter Cfs like Saviola, Montella, Romario, for some reason.

Anyway, imo, there is something in history and stats.
Each country "plays" football in a specific way and players are born and raised in that way.
It is way more likely that Spain, Brasil or Portugal will produce a lot of new players in Xavi's mould, than Italy or Germany.
With that in mind, I have doubts about Portuguese Cfs, since no one, except CR7 who is a robot, was actually a good, old classic Cf from Portugal.

2-The guy seem to know how to score goals, which is the most important aspect in the game. You can have all the great midfielder or defenders in the world but you aren't winning a thing if you don't have that one guy -at least- that can give you ton of goals every year, finish off games for when you are bad.
Felix looks like this guy and some more with his vision, his finishing and off the ball movement is just something else for a guy of his age. I don't think we have anyone who is younger than 31 who can be this guy as I see Dembele more of a Hazard regarding scoring, fine as long as he isn't your main goal scorer.

At the end -as you said- whoever we are gonna sign is gonna be huge risk, no attacker who is worth to be considered a candidate to replace Suarez is gonna cost less than 70M in this market

If you think that he is that good, I'll believe you, Khaled.
But then, I would consider him as some kind of a Cam or weird hybrid attacker for some future lineups, AFTER Messi.
Short term:
1. he is not a CF
2. young CFs who are ready to play in big clubs like Barca and who had an immidiate impact are extremely rare (except R9 and Mbappe, iirc)

So, imo, he could be an interesting option for the future, but probably not someone who will lead us to a CL glory in the next few years on his shoulders.
And again, he'll probably play on some other position.

Btw, from videos which I have watched, his position and passing reminds me more of some 90s style CAM in 352, like younger Totti, Boban, Rui Costa.
A player close to an opponent's box, who is not a true attacker, but has a good eye for a final pass and for a killer finish here and there:

 

[Messi983]

Batigol.

Imagine him playing alongside Messi for Argentina. They could actually win something.

 

[Riordon]

Agree with the guys that say his profile is a bit problematic. But I think our scouts see such a potential in him that they believe he can be converted into a number 9. After all, there aren't many options out there. I like Alexander Isak though but he is even more raw than Felix. Personally I like Suarez and won't have a problem with him being here for two more seasons as I think he is still the best 9 in world. Lets see how age will affect him.

 

[VN10]

Something you shouldn't do [MENTION=16942]BBZ8800[/MENTION] is relying on the knowledge of our Egyption friend Khaled. Atleast not when you see what he writes about Felix, and then see what he writes about De Ligt. Loads of posts, not too many with quality.

On de Ligt:

He is an early bloomer, which make it more worrying tbh. Especially considering he isn't an athletic CB that is basing his game on physical tools and might need some learning.
He is very expensive player, he will need to have impact from day one.
Too risky tbh

Too risky dude, he relies on his physical tools. Skip De Ligt.

 

[VN10]

Batigol.

Imagine him playing alongside Messi for Argentina. They could actually win something.

A childhood hero! What a player

 

[Joan]

Too risky dude, he relies on his physical tools. Skip De Ligt.

"Especially considering he isn't an athletic CB that is basing his game on physical tools and might need some learning."

Do you even read those old posts you dig up?

 

[Messi983]

Also Joao Pinto.
Pauleta was good, but that's it, far from Barca's level.

Also, if you look at those players, they are all closer to some lighter, more technical forwards.
And far from classic 9s from that era like Batistuta, Crespo, Trezeguet, Ruud, Kluivert, Makaay.

Kluivert was my favourite too.