User:Profavi1/FelixGarcia

Felix García Nilsson (born 16 December 2004) is a Spanish-Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Sweden national team. He is regarded as one of the best young players in the world, winning both the Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy awards in 2024.

A UD Almería youth product, García made his senior debut in 2023, and finished his first season with the highest number of assists in La Liga and being named the league's best young player. He was subsequently signed by Bayer Leverkusen for a club record fee of €60 million.

The son of Spanish former defender Carlos García, García played for both the Spain and Sweden national teams at youth level, before making his senior debut for Sweden in 2024.

Early life
Garcia was born in Barcelona, Spain, to professional footballer Carlos García, who was playing for RCD Espanyol at the time, and his Swedish-born wife Linda Nilsson. When he was six months old, Garcia and his family moved to Almería. Garcia, his mother, and siblings all remained in Almería following his father's departure for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2012.

Almería
Having joined UD Almería's youth setup in 2014, Garcia was promoted to the senior side for friendlies in July 2023 by manager Vicente Moreno. Though expected to largely be a part of the B side in the 2023–24 season, his performance in friendlies against VfB Stuttgart and US Lecce led to his inclusion in the first-team matchday squad.

Garcia made his senior debut on 15 August, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute for Adri Embarba in a 1–0 win over Rayo Vallecano. On 2 September, he scored his first goals of his senior career, netting twice off the bench in a 2–0 win over Celta de Vigo. He scored another brace in his following game, a 3–0 away win over Villareal, and was praised for his performance. He made his first start for the club on 22 September, scoring and assisting in a 2–2 draw against Valencia. After scoring twice and assisting in a 4–1 win over Sevilla on 27 September, he was named La Liga Player of the Month, having notched seven goals and two assists in four games, becoming the youngest ever player to receive the award.

Having netted a penalty in a 1–0 win over Girona on 21 October, he achieved a hat-trick of assists as well as scoring in a 4–1 win over Alavés on 3 November. On 4 December, he assisted twice in a 2–2 draw with Granada, and later scored twice and assisted in a 3–2 win over Mallorca on 12 December. On 20 December, he netted a brace in a 2–1 away win over Barcelona, becoming the youngest opposition player to score a brace at the Camp Nou. For his four goals and three assists in four games in December, he was named Player of the Month once again. After registering an assist in a 2–2 draw with Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, García scored and assisted in both a 3–1 win over Valencia on 5 February 2024 and a 2–1 win over Granada in 17 February. He later scored a late goal in a 3–1 defeat against Barcelona on 14 May.

Though Almería's form dwindled towards the end of their campaign, García finished his only senior season at the club with 18 goals and 15 assists in 40 games, having started less than half of them. His 15 assists in La Liga were the most of any player in the league, while his 17 goals were the seventh-highest; he was joint runner-up in goal contributions alongside Antoine Griezmann and only behind Robert Lewandowski, while his goal contributions-to-minutes ratio was the best in the league and the most in Europe for any player under 21. He was named La Liga U23 Player of the Season for his performances, and was later won the 2024 Kopa Trophy as one of the ten best under-21 players in the world.

Bayer Leverkusen
On 3 July 2024, reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen announced the signing of García on a five-year contract for a club record fee of €60 million (£50.7 million). He was assigned the vacant number 11 shirt, which had previously been worn by Nadiem Amiri.

García made his debut on 18 August, coming off the bench in the 2024 DFL-Supercup as Leverkusen were defeated 2–1 by Bayern Munich. His Bundesliga debut came the following week on 25 August as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with Hertha BSC. On 31 August, his home debut at the BayArena, he came off the bench and scored two late goals in a 2–0 victory over Werder Bremen. He made his first start for Leverkusen on 22 September, in a 1–0 loss to Union Berlin, and made his UEFA Champions League debut in Leverkusen's following game, starting in a 2–1 loss to Sevilla on 26 September. He was awarded Bundesliga Player of the Month for November, having scored five goals and assisted once in four games, including braces against SC Freiburg and Mainz 05. On 18 December, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 2–0 away win over Sevilla, which sent his team into the knockout stage of the tournament. After scoring and assisting in wins against FC Augsburg, Darmstadt 98 and Borussia Mönchengladbach, he was awarded Player of the Month for December, with four goals and four assists in four games.

García assisted twice in a 5–2 comeback victory over TSG Hoffenheim on 18 January 2025, and was man of the match in a 2–1 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena the following week, resulting in his third consecutive Player of the Month award in January. On 1 February, he assisted all four of Leverkusen's goals in a 4–2 win over Schalke 04, becoming the third player in Bundesliga history to complete four assists in a single game (after Szabolcs Huszti and Christopher Nkunku) and the youngest efver to do so. He assisted in both of Leverkusen's following games, wins over Freiburg and Borussia Dortmund, and scored a late equaliser against 1. FC Köln on 29 February; for his six assists and one goal in five matches, he was awarded Player of the Month for February, becoming the first player in Bundseliga history to win the award in four consecutive months. After scoring in a 2–0 win against Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, he scored and assisted in a 2–2 draw in the second leg on 11 March to send Leverkusen through to the quarter-finals.

International career
García is eligible to represent either Spain or Sweden internationally. Having followed his father's footsteps and played for Spain's youth teams until under-18 level, he began playing for Sweden's under-19s and under-21s in 2023.

On 11 March 2024, García was called up to the Sweden senior side for the team's forthcoming friendlies. He made his debut against Mexico on 20 March and scored the opening goal in the 91st minute, though Santiago Giménez later equalised to tie the match 1–1.

Style of play
A versatile player, García predominantly plays as a right-winger, but has also been deployed on the left, as well as at centre-forward for Sweden and as a wing-back by Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso. He has stated that his style of play draws inspiration from fellow left-footed wingers Arjen Robben and Gareth Bale, while his footballing hero growing up was fellow Swede Zlatan Ibrahimović.

García suffers from glaucoma and, as such, wears protective goggles in his eyes, which has drawn him comparisons to Edgar Davids.

International

 * Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first.

Honours
Individual
 * Kopa Trophy: 2024
 * Golden Boy: 2024
 * Bundesliga Player of the Month: November 2024, December 2024, January 2025, February 2025
 * Bundesliga Rookie of the Month: August 2024, November 2024
 * La Liga Player of the Month: September 2023, December 2023
 * La Liga U23 Player of the Month: September 2023, November 2023, December 2023, January 2024, February 2024
 * La Liga Playmaker of the Season: 2023–24
 * La Liga U23 Player of the Season: 2023–24