Manchester United fans are excited about Benfica wonderkid Joao Neves after a compilation of his performances against Sporting went viral. Fabrizio Romano has revealed that United had scouts in attendance to watch the 19-year-old in action in the Lisbon derby at the Estadio Da Luz.Neves is being closely monitored by United, who will no doubt have been impressed by what they saw.
The youngster started in midfield and showed off his excellent range of passing and ability to drive up the pitch.Neves may only be slight and small at around 5 foot 9, but he made up for that with an incredible tenacity and bite in the middle of the park. He clearly likes a tackle and very much enjoyed the battle with Sporting’s midfielders.
His display was the definition of all-action and he capped it off with a stunning 94th minute equaliser, producing an emphatic finish from a corner.Benfica then went on to win the clash in the 97th minute through Casper Tengstedt.
Neves came through the ranks at Benfica and helped them win the UEFA Youth League in 2022 before making his first-team debut as an 18-year-old.He helped Roger Schmidt’s side win the Primeira Liga last term and received a sustained run in the side following Enzo Fernandez’s £107 million move to Chelsea in January.This term he’s played 18 times in all competitions and Schmidt has waxed lyrical about him, describing him “special” and “great example” to young players at the club.
“It was a surprise last season, now I know him, but it shows that he is very special from the first day he trains with the team. He is very complete, he is top from a technical point of view, he is very intelligent and physical, despite being small, he is good at winning balls in duels.”The most extraordinary thing is the quality of his football, it is a great example of the work that can be done with young players at Seixal, it is a way of showing that Benfica can buy players and at the same time being able to develop young players in the academy.”One of the special things that Benfica has is to train players as special as Joao Neves.”United are in the race but it’s said that both Arsenal and Liverpool also had scouts watching Neves strut his stuff.
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