Al Nassr warned of legal risk over Joao Felix contract extension

Al Nassr have been warned that delaying a decision on Joao Felix’s contract could increase the legal risk of losing the Portugal forward, amid conflicting reports over whether the Saudi club has activated an extension clause.

Legal adviser Ahmed Al-Sheikhi said the clause in Felix’s contract is unilateral, giving Al Nassr the right to exercise it, but it is not automatic. The club must therefore formally decide to activate the option rather than relying on certain renewal conditions being met.

For the clause to be valid and legally enforceable, Al-Sheikhi said Joao Felix’s annual salary must increase by at least 20%, while the extension period must be proportionate to the length of his original contract. He added that both requirements are currently in place.

The Saudi legal expert also said the player must give “separate acceptance from the original transfer agreement with Chelsea”.

Speaking on the Nadinaa programme, Al-Sheikhi said the conditions for extending the contract had already been satisfied, but urged Al Nassr’s management to act before the winter transfer window.

He warned that further delays could create legal complications connected to the player’s contractual rights. In a post on X, Al-Sheikhi wrote: “The longer Al Nassr delays activating the renewal clause for Joao Felix, the greater the legal risk of losing the player, before the opportunity is taken away and the player changes his mind.

“Some Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) arbitrators are also very sympathetic towards a player who is denied the right to negotiate during the final six months of his contract.”

Felix’s current agreement runs until June 2027. Al-Sheikhi added that Al Nassr had drafted the extension clause in a way that made it binding on the player, although he stressed that the club still needed to activate it at the appropriate time.

Sources previously told Kooora that Al Nassr had moved to extend Felix’s contract until the summer of 2029. The club’s reported move comes with Barcelona interested in bringing the player back, while his agent Jorge Mendes is attempting to arrange a transfer to the Catalan club.

Financial questions remain

Al Nassr media figure Bander Al-Dabikhi has questioned whether Felix’s renewal has in fact been completed, given the contradictory reports about the clause being activated.

He said the final decision remained with the club’s owner, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which would be responsible for providing the money required to complete the renewal.

Al-Dabikhi also said the situation had become more difficult because of the restrictions imposed on Al Nassr and what he described as weak sponsorship income. He asked: “Who brought Al Nassr to this situation?”

The club must now decide not only whether to retain one of its key players, but also when to activate the clause, meet the resulting financial obligations and settle the matter before Felix enters the period in which he can negotiate with other clubs.