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Portuguese wonder kid Joao Felix has been officially awarded the Golden Boy award for the year 2019. The former SL Benfica academy product, who scored 15 goals and set up a further 9 in 26 Liga NOS appearances last season, has been one of the most impressive players in his age bracket over the past year or so.
The 20-year-old then was handpicked as the heir to a Barcelona-bound Antoine Griezmann in the summer of 2019. Felix was purchased by Atletico Madrid for a whopping €126m and inherited the Frenchman’s #7 shirt at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The Golden Boy is awarded to the most exciting talent to emerge in the top flights of European football under the age of 21. Felix joins an elite list of names that includes the likes of Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, and most recently, Matthijs de Ligt.
The 20-year-old has been a key player for Los Rojiblancos this season having represented them 13 times across all competitions and scoring 3 goals, largely playing as a second striker. Felix had to fight it out against names such as Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, RB Salzburg’s Erling Haaland, Real Madrid's Brazilian duo Rodrygo Goes and Vinicius Jr., and Bayer Leverkusen starlet Kai Havertz to pick up the prestigious award.
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