Chelsea are said to have joined the race to sign Benfica midfielder Joao Neves, while Manchester United have also been linked with the player.
The 19-year-old has featured regularly for the Portuguese giants in the Primeira Liga this season, with eight appearances. 5 of them were starters and he also had 1 assist. Neves played the full 90 minutes of his side’s 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with Brais Mendez scoring the only goal of the game in the second half. The Portugal international has made 33 appearances for the club since his debut last November, scoring one goal.
The TEAMtalk report said Chelsea is interested in this defensive midfielder, who made his first appearance for the Portuguese national team earlier this month.
Joao Neves is known as a ‘little Enzo Fernandez’.
The 19-year-old signed new terms at Benfica this summer, committing his future to the club until the end of the 2027-28 season, although it is highly unlikely he will stay until the end of his contract.
It is believed that Man Utd has been following Neves for more than a year, since the time he played for Benfica B in Portugal’s lower division. Benfica have placed a release clause worth 120m euros (£104m) in the new contract of Neves, who is also receiving interest from teams in the Saudi Pro League.
Dang Nguyen | 07:25 October 27, 2023
