Cristiano Ronaldo's Portuguese 'Successor' Moving On From Criticism

Portuguese rising star Joao Felix who has been dubbed as next Cristiano Ronaldo said he’s doing fine moving on from critisms.

Along with Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho, Atletico Madrid’s Felix was one of the most promising rising stars in Europe. The 20-year-old burst onto scene after being regarded as Ronaldo’s successor and becoming the most expensive teenager of all time when he joined Atletico in a $137 million move from Benfica. However, some are still unsure if Felix could really live up the hype , In fact, after an underwhelming run with Atletico this season, the Felix received a fair share of criticisms from both the media and the fans.

In a recent online discussion with Brazilian legend Kaka (via Tribalfootball.com), Felix opened up about the struggles of being criticized. According to the youngster, he like it when he hears positive feedback from the social media, and hated the negative ones.

"As soon as you sit down with the team, the better you play. But when you are affected, the most important thing was to deal with the media. Newspapers, social networks that I used to follow, I liked when they said beautiful things and not, when they said bad things,” Felix revealed.

Despite dealing with the burden of being compared to a legend, Felix managed to retain his composure and insisted that he is now doing fine moving on from it.

"At one point I stopped following them (social media) and I have not done it again. At the moment, I am fine now, moving from the Portuguese to the Spanish league," Felix said.

While it is hard to conclude that Felix could really be the next Ronaldo, former Paris Saint-Germain and Felix’s fellow Benfica player Valdo recently shared his thoughts about the matter. Valdo thinks Felix would have been better with other clubs than Atletico Madrid but as for the comparisons with Ronaldo, the ex-Benfica star said it’s not “very similar.”

“As an ex-Benfica player, 'I'm a big fan of Joao Felix . He's a very intelligent and technical player, who is also quick at executing his actions. In my opinion, they aren't the best team for him. I see him more at Barca, Real Madrid or Manchester City,” Valdo predicted.

"CR7 is the absolute professional. He is different to the rest, he gives 100%, he also trains with passion. And that is all even without talking about his talent. I think Joao Felix is not very similar to Cristiano Ronaldo,” Valdo added.