Manchester City and Manchester United target João Neves had another great game for Benfica at the weekend, and with him showing that potential, the local media is only hyping him up further.
Newspaper Record has a story for which they interviewed José Boto, who used to be the Eagles’ scouting chief.
He claimed that Neves “sets alarm bells ringing for the big clubs”, and had a lot to say about the 19-year-old’s potential.
“I’m not surprised that all the big European clubs are paying attention, Benfica could earn a lot of money in the future with his sale. There’s no doubt in my mind that, regardless of Benfica’s season, he’ll be worth a lot at the end of the year,” Boto told Record.
“At his age, he combines talent with impressive dynamism in midfield and above-average maturity, something he demonstrates with every performance he makes. He shows that he’s ready to play at the highest level and has huge scope for progression. He’s a player who impresses and whose faults are hard to find.”
Record mention that Manchester City and Manchester United are starting to ‘tighten the siege’ around the midfielder, as well as Juventus. The scout claims Neves should have no difficulties adapting to any leagues in Europe.
“If it’s a very defensive team, he’ll have less of a role, but the big clubs, who can afford him, don’t play like that. He’s ready for any type of game and championship, he doesn’t have the profile for just one type of game.”
Even though it’s Manchester City and Manchester United who are linked by Record, we must recall that it’s really the Red Devils who’ve been mentioned in Neves stories more often.
With Benfica doing badly in the Champions League, they know they’ll need to make a big sale soon, and the youngster is one of the big candidates to get negotiated. He’s protected by a €120m release clause, though, so Erik ten Hag’s side will need to work to bring that price tag down.
