Struggling Barcelona star labelled ‘world-class’ by international boss | OneFootball

An oft-criticised member of the attacking ranks at La Liga giants Barcelona this past season has this week been defended by his manager at international level.

The player in question? João Félix.

Frontman Félix, for his part, has seen his name come under the spotlight once more over the course of the last week.

As much comes with the 24-year-old yet to secure for himself a single minute of action, across Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign.

Manager Roberto Martínez has favoured a whole host of attacking talent over Félix, from Cristiano Ronaldo to Rafael Leão, Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota, Pedro Neto and Francisco Conceição.

With the former Benfica prodigy fresh off a campaign which saw him also fail to secure starter status whilst on loan with the aforementioned Barcelona, questions, in turn, have continued to mount when it comes to Félix’s talents.

Speaking to the media this week, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of as much was put to Roberto Martínez.

And Portugal’s headmaster made use of the opportunity to jump to the defence of his out-of-favour attacker, assuring that:

“João Félix is ​​very important (to Portugal). He is world-class.”

Conor Laird | GSFN