TOPSHOT - Real Madrid's Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his second goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg football match between Juventus and Real Madrid at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on April 3, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Marco BERTORELLO (Photo credit should read MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP/Getty Images)

Among a huge number of players linked with Real Madrid to replace Cristiano Ronaldo, Florentino Perez may have found his man in Portugal.

An infinite number of players have been linked with a transfer to Real Madrid of late as the European champions seek to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. The Whites are now planning to extend the arms of their search mission for a locum of the Portugal international in his home country itself- Portugal.

Joao Felix has been identified as a player who can fill in the void left by the 34-year-old. The 19-year-old is currently on the books of Portuguese giants Benfica, just a few years after being kicked out of Porto’s academy on the pretext of being weak. He has repaid the faith put into him by the Lisbon based side and has now racked nearly 1000 minutes with their first team.

The forward is six feet tall and very thin, but he has been likened to his compatriot from a very early age, thanks to the similar path of development he has followed as well as his game style. Over the course of the 2018/19 campaign so far, Felix has scored eight goals and handed in three assists.

He has already played a lot of international matches over the course of the last few months, with the under 21 quarry of the Portuguese national side. He has heavily been tipped to get a call-up from Fernando Santos into the senior team at any point of time and with the international break approaching in March, Felix’s eyes will be on getting his first cap.

With a market value of 15 million euros, the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Juventus, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Milan have all shown interest in him prior to Real Madrid. As a matter of fact, the club rejected a bid from China worth 60 million euros for Felix and is not willing to get rid of him for less than 120 million euros, his release clause.

Florentino Perez is looking to weave his magic in the transfer market yet again, this time by landing the player widely dubbed as the ‘next Cristiano Ronaldo’. The Real Madrid President dreams of seeing an attacking trident of Vinicius, Felix and Rodrygo.