A plaque featuring the name of Portuguese forward Joao Felix outside of Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium has been vandalised by fans following his move to Chelsea, Daily Mail reports.
Felix became the most expensive player in the history of Atletico when he joined from Benfica for a fee worth around £115million in July 2019.
Despite scoring 34 goals, Felix failed to live up to his hefty price tag and is £42.7m sale to Chelsea saw the Spanish club ultimately accept a massive loss.
Felix fell out of favour with Atletico manager Diego Simeone, while many fans criticised the attitude of the 24-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Barcelona.
After his transfer to Stamford Bridge was officially confirmed, litter in the form of cigarette butts and empty beer cans was seen covering up Felix’s floor plaque on the Walk of Legends.
The Walk of Legends features plaques for players who have appeared in 100 or more official games for Atletico.
Felix played in 131 competitive matches for Atletico, including 96 in La Liga.
His final outing for the club in Spain came in a 3-1 pre-season friendly win over Getafe earlier this month.
Joao Felix plaque destroyed by Atletico Madrid at Metropolitan Stadium
Felix scored in that game but he was subjected to offensive chanting from Atletico fans, who branded him a ‘son of a b****’.
He has since signed a seven-year contract with Chelsea, having previously featured 20 times for the London club during a loan spell in the 2022-23 season.
Speaking after completing his move back to Chelsea on Wednesday, Felix told the club’s official website: ‘It’s a chance for me to find a home.
“After two loans, Chelsea and Barca, I needed to stay permanently in one place. There is no better place for me to be than Chelsea. I see a perfect place to shine.
“It was a little bit of a lot of things that made me want to come back: the project, the club, the league, the fans, the time I spent here that I loved. I felt really good when I was here, despite the results we had. I’m really happy to be back.”
