Manchester United have made a €70 million bid for a superstar midfielder to sit alongside Kobbie Mainoo in the centre of the park.
Mainoo was a revelation for the Red Devils last season, emerging as a spark in a poor season and earning a call-up to Euro 2024 with England. With Casemiro expected to leave this summer, Manchester United's incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth is said to be in the market for a new defensive midfielder to sit alongside their homegrown teenager.
And now, a huge bid has been tabled for one star, as the 20-time English champions look to secure the future of their midfield for the next decade.
Portuguese publication Record says that United have bid for Benfica Joao Neves, following info from agent, Guilherme von Cupper.
According to the report, United have indicated that this move is not the start of a negotiation but the upper limit to what they're willing to pay for the Portugal star, who was eliminated from the Euros last night on penalties to France.
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Neves is a man in demand who has been lauded over the past couple of years for his all-round game in midfield. In FourFourTwo's list last season of the most exciting teenagers in football, we noted that the 19-year-old was “physical, carries the ball with purpose and he's able to affect all phases of play,” while FFT writer Matthew Holt went one further, hailing him as the next big thing.
“When we talk about generational talents Neves instantly jumps out at you,” he wrote. “Kobbie Mainoo needs a midfield partner and what better way to hand him a perfect present than to give him Benfica's next big thing to play alongside for the next 10 years at Old Trafford.
“With an engine that could seemingly go for days, Neves' passing, vision, aggression and stamina make him one of the hottest prospects in Europe at present and United would be foolish not to make him their natural replacement for the ageing Casemiro.”
While United are understandably keen to sign Neves, however, FourFourTwo understands that Neves has a release clause set at £105m. While we estimate that United are banking on dealing with agent Jorge Mendes and the player's own ambition to play at the top level being a factor that could force an exit, negotiating with Benfica may in fact be futile.
“If there is one player that Benfica won’t negotiate for less than the release clause is Joao Neves," journalist Bruno Andrade of Mais Futebol claimed in May.
"Other players like Antonio Silva, Anatoliy Trubin, Benfica believe they can negotiate below their release clause but Joao Neves is different. He either leaves the club if his release clause is met or he stays.”
Transfermarkt values Neves at €55m.
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