Summer signing Joao Felix enjoyed a spectacular start to his Al Nassr career as the Portuguese forward scored a hat-trick on the opening weekend of the Saudi Pro League season.
Joao Felix, who joined from English Premier League side Chelsea in a deal reportedly worth up to €50 million, helped his new team thrash Al Taawoun 5-0 at Buraidah Stadium.
It was a statement victory for new manager Jorge Jesus, whose starting line-up included the daunting attacking quartet of Joao Felix, fellow summer arrival Kingsley Coman, Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Coman, who joined from German giants Bayern Munich in a €30m switch, and Ronaldo were also on target. Joao Felix has revealed that Ronaldo, also his international teammate, played a key role in his decision to join Nassr.
“You can see he is building here, doing his part to grow something,” said Joao Felix of his compatriot. “He was one of the first to speak with me about coming here and when he spoke to me, it was a great moment and feeling, so that helped to convince me.
“I feel that this league is increasing [in quality] a lot. Every year, more and more players are coming to play here. The project here at Al Nassr is good and exciting.
“Of course, I want to help the team and the club as much as I can, by scoring goals, giving assists and helping us win games. The most important thing is I want to help us win titles.
“We played against Al Ahli and Al Ittihad in the Super Cup. What I can say is the truth is they have amazing players, good coaches. They’re well organised, play good football. Those matches were very difficult.”
Joao Felix, 25, has settled quickly into his new life in the Middle East after a career spent playing at top clubs across Europe in Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan.
“For me, it’s been easy to adjust as I’ve lived already in many cities, many countries,” he said. “In Riyadh, this city is huge, and it has everything. The place I live is top for me, and this is one more place for me to live in my life.”
It was a flying start to the campaign for Nassr, who will be hoping to improve on last season's third-place finish in the SPL, a distant 13 points behind champions Al Ittihad.
And the day could not have gone any better for Joao Felix, who ended up clutching the match ball and man-of-the-match award following his debut exploits.
“Yeah, a good start,” Joao Felix said. “For me personally and, most important, for the team. We knew in this [stadium] is not easy to play against this team; they are strong, they defend well.
“But we did a great job, and the second half was perfect. Happy for the win [and] for the clean sheet.”
And while the team's attacking exploits were impressive, the fact Nassr finished the match without conceding was equally as important for Joao Felix.
“That is very important for us, because if you don't concede, we are always closer to win,” he said. “Because we have great talent in the front that can score goals at any minute. So, if we defend well, we can win almost every game.”
Al Nassr return to action after the international break with a home game against Al Kholood in the SPL on September 14.
Three days later they begin their AFC Champions League 2 campaign against Tajikistani side Istiklol in Riyadh.
The first big test of the SPL season arrives on September 26 when they face champions Al Ittihad in Jeddah.
The double winners hammered Al Okhdood 5-2 at the weekend when French striker Karim Benzema matched Joao Felix's exploits by grabbing an opening-game hat-trick
