Manchester United have been linked to Benfica defensive midfielder João Neves ahead of the summer transfer window in 2025 – according to The Metro, which is expected to be an important transfer window for the Old Trafford club following Sir Jim Ratcliffe minority ownership.
For years now, United have invested poorly in all area of the playing squad from signing players that did not want to play for United – using the club as a stepping stone and players that just did not fit into the playing structure of the club.
United need to start looking at younger players for key positions to provide longevity rather than signing an established player on high wages, which is what currently happens at the club. Ratcliffe’s partial ownership of the club really needs to change the way the entire club does things.
With there 2023/24 season approaching the final months, transfer rumours are staring to materialise as to what kind of players United could be seeking to sign in the summer. There are even rumours that a whole host of high earners could be transfer listed and moved on, which is interesting.
One player currently linked to the Theatre of Dreams is Portuguese Benfica midfielder João Neves, a 19-year-old who predominantly plays as a defensive midfielder but can also play in centra midfield and attacking midfield. The teenager came through Benfica’s academy.
He has been playing first team football for his club since 2022 – making his debut in the Liga Portugal in December 2022 in a 3-0 defeat to Sporting Braga. Since then, the midfielder has made 65 appearances for his club, scoring three goals and three assists.
This season, Neves has made 45 appearances, scoring two goals and two assists. He is definitely a player for the future and a player that United should be looking into with a Portuguese core at the club with Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes already at the Theatre of Dreams.
Fernandes has been talking up the possibility of United signing Neves in the summer, which at this time is not something that it is confirmed that United would do, especially with his £103 million release clause – which would need to be negotiated. Fernandes said:
“I don’t know if United rumours are true, but I know he is ready for that big jump. He is an excellent player, he’s with the National team. That’s also why the big clubs are after him.”
The comments by United’s captain hardly confirms anything other than he feels the player is ready for a move to a much bigger club – and United would fit that based on their history and the fact that football people now seem to be heading to the club to spearhead a new revolution.
The Ratcliffe takeover of United looks to be a positive step of the club getting away from the Glazer era, which has only seem the family profit and let the club decay from the very top to the bottom and all facets in between. It has been devastating to see United fall from grace in the last decade.
But United still has something left to prove and their history only underlines that with he club coming back from the Munich Air Disaster and relegation so there is a way back for them providing that everything from top to bottom is done right. Could Neves end up playing for United next season?
Written by Paul
