FC Barcelona accept Joao Neves is Manchester United bound – Man United News And Transfer News

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Barcelona have accepted that it would be futile to chase Portuguese starlet, Joao Neves, as the player is already Manchester United bound.

This is according to reports from El Nacional, a Catalan outlet.

The crux of the paper’s argument is that Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, would love to bring the 19 year old star to Catalunya but his hands are tied on the matter.

This is because Neves’ super-agent, Jorge Mendes, has apparently already made up his mind that the north-west of England will be the youngster’s next destination.

The paper laments that despite recent good dealings with the Blaugrana such as the signings of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo, there is to be no future partnership over Neves.

El Nacional goes on to claim that the player hasn’t even been given a chance to wear the Barca shirt. The paper takes an apparent swipe at Mendes for choosing to take the Portuguese midfielder to the Premier League, where they state there is much more money to find.

The Catalan site also asserts that at only 19 years old, the midfielder has made the most of his minutes and attracting the attention of Europe’s most powerful teams with his performances.

Transfermarkt backs up this assertion as the starlet has already played 18 times for Benfica and made four appearances in the Champions League. At such a tender age, he is already a key component of the team that currently sits top of the Portuguese league.

Sofascore also support the idea that Neves’ star is on the rise. The website credit him with an average rating of 7.25 in the Champions League so far. Impressive at only 19.

The Peoples Person has extensively reported about United’s interest in the player. Fabrizio Romano claimed that the Old Trafford side sent scouts to run the rule over the midfielder’s performance in a crunch tie versus Sporting. They would surely have been salivating at what they saw as Sofascore gave the player a mammoth 8.5 rating in the game.

Neves has also been in a tug of war between Portuguese stars Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva. Fernandes has claimed he wants Neves to join him in the red half of Manchester, whereas Silva has asserted that the youngster would be better off joining him on the blue side.

However, we also reported here that Benfica have no desire to part with their star just yet as they have ambitions domestically and abroad this season.

El Nacional however is more upbeat about United’s chances and claims that United have moved ahead of the competition and they will happily pay the €70 million required to sanction the Portuguese’s arrival in Manchester.

Manchester United fans around the world would most likely welcome such a sign of intent and would gladly accept such a promising young star to bolster the midfield. Especially in the context of a potential Casemiro departure on the horizon.