Joao Felix has admitted that Real Madrid did tug at him during his career in Spain, but says pulling on the white shirt after his time at Atlético Madrid and Barcelona would have been unthinkable.

The Portugal forward, now at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, was asked in an interview with Diario AS whether he had ever considered a move to the club Barcelona treat as their fiercest rival. His answer, reported by Yahoo Sports, was blunt.

“I would have been football’s biggest traitor. No, no, no.”

The 26-year-old had loan spells at Chelsea and Barcelona from Atlético Madrid before leaving European football. He acknowledged that the appeal of the Spanish capital’s other giant had never fully disappeared, telling AS that he had wanted to play for Real Madrid at some point in his career.

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“I really enjoyed my time at Barcelona. Well, yes, I did miss playing for Real Madrid, but I’m proud to have played for Barcelona.”

Barça was ‘a dream for me as a child’

Felix’s Barcelona loan did not end with a major trophy, but he described the move itself as the fulfilment of a childhood ambition shared by his family.

“Playing for Barcelona already made me very happy. I’m very glad to have worn the shirt. It was a dream for me as a child, for my father, for my brother. It was a source of pride.”

On his years at Atlético, where he arrived from Benfica in 2019 as one of the most expensive teenagers in football history, Felix was less effusive but refused to disown the spell.

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“I don’t regret it. I had very nice, very important moments at Atlético. I would have liked things to have gone better, but that’s football, that’s growth as a footballer.”

Watching Yamal from Riyadh

Felix left Chelsea for Al-Nassr on a two-year contract in July 2025, reuniting with Cristiano Ronaldo. From Saudi Arabia, he told AS, he still tunes in to La Liga because of one Barcelona teenager.

“I watch a lot of Barça because of him. I love his way of playing, how he approaches games and how he takes on the match.”

“It’s true that Mbappé and Kane have had a great season, but Lamine is football.”

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