My younger brother turned down my former teammate's help to Saudi Arabia. It's useless if you're talented but don't try

Aug 01, 2025

My younger brother turned down my former teammate's help to Saudi Arabia. It's useless if you're talented but don't try
ReutersYonhap News



Saul Niguez, who left Atletico Madrid (AT Madrid) to Flamengo, recently mentioned Joao Felix wearing an Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia) uniform.

In an interview with Spanish radio broadcaster Cadenacope on the 1st (Korea time), Niges said "Football is a team sport. João had all the qualities to be a good player. But no matter how outstanding a player is, it's not worth it if he doesn't play for the team." Then, director Paco Hemmes said 'Even if you have talent, if you don't try, you'll be useless'"We tried to help Zhuang, but he didn't want to," he added.

Felix signed with Al Nasr on the 30th. A former Benfica youth, he drew attention with a transfer fee of 126 million euros (about 14.5 billion won) when he signed with AT Madrid in 2019, but has rarely grown since then. He moved to Chelsea in 2024 after moving on loan, and spent the last season on loan with FC Barcelona and AC Milan. However, it was not a breakthrough. In this summer's transfer market, the possibility of returning to his former team Benfica was predicted, but his choice was shockingly to Saudi Arabia. Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Al Nasr, reportedly persuaded Felix. Al-Nasr succeeded in catching Felix with 50 million euros (about 79.9 billion won), twice the transfer fee offered by Benfica to Chelsea.




My younger brother turned down my former teammate's help to Saudi Arabia. It's useless if you're talented but don't try
EPAYonhap News
In an interview with the Plas Broadcasting Corporation 'RMC Sports'Felix did not play football for a long time. He's just a money maker. Some say they are soccer mercenaries, others say they are victims of the transfer market. Either way, it's a typical example of the pitfalls that a lot of talented young players can fall into."

Niges chose to cross to Brazil instead of going to Turkey. Through Cadenacope, Nigès "conditions were good for Trabzonspor compared to Flamengue. But I chose to go to Brazil for personal reasons. The fact that manager Philippe Lewis is leading Flamengo also played a major role" he said. As for AT Madrid coach Diego Simeone, who classified himself as out of power "We had ups and downs in our relationship, but we could always talk face to face. It was a positive relationship. Unlike other leaders, he did not try to hide anything" he said.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.