Bruno Fernandes publicly endorses Man Utd swoop for ‘excellent’ star, with transfer record under threat

Joao Neves has moved one step closer to joining Manchester United this summer, as Bruno Fernandes has lavished praise on the 19-year-old.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is aiming to improve the Man Utd squad with some stellar signings ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, and he is expected to dip into the Portuguese market. On Monday, it emerged that Man Utd are leading Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid in the pursuit of Benfica defender Antonio Silva.

The centre-back is not the only Benfica star Man Utd are taking a look at, with central midfielder Neves also on their radar.

In January, Jorge Mendes – who represents both players – revealed that there have been several occasions where Neves and Silva could have left Portugal.

So far, Benfica have been unwilling to let them leave, but that could change this summer if Ratcliffe and Man Utd start throwing big money around.

Neves is protected by a colossal €120million (£103m) release clause. That is clearly huge money to pay for a teenager, though Man Utd are eager to win the race for Neves as they feel he has world-class potential.

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Neves moving to Old Trafford for £103m would see him surpass Paul Pogba and become Man Utd’s most expensive signing of all time.

Fernandes, who plays with Neves for the Portugal national team, has now made a big admission on the wonderkid. He has revealed Neves is ‘ready’ to join one of Europe’s major sides, effectively giving Man Utd the green light to complete a deal.

Man Utd target ‘ready for big jump’

“I don’t know if [the] Man Utd rumours are true, but I know he is ready for that big jump,” the Red Devils captain said.

“He is an excellent player, he’s with the national team. That’s also why the big clubs are after him.”

Neves could become the third Portuguese member of the Man Utd squad, with Erik ten Hag already able to rely on Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

Plus, Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo scored 145 goals in 346 games across two spells at Man Utd.

On Monday, quotes from Fernandes emerged where he explained Man Utd’s crazy tactics during the 4-3 FA Cup win over Liverpool. The attacking midfielder ended up at centre-back, with Harry Maguire and Dalot the only typical defenders on the pitch.

“It’s whatever I have to do to help the team win,” he said. “This… there are no positions. At that moment we had to take risks, we had to play basically man-to-man, which was what the coach asked of us. And he didn’t want me to be so deep at certain moments.

“But I felt it and H [Maguire] often asked me to drop back to help because obviously there was Gakpo and Darwin, two very fast players, with a lot of speed.

“And at one point I had to jump into the middle, at others I had to drop a little deeper, because my legs were getting tired, I was cramping up everywhere, and I even took a knock to help out (laughs).

“But it’s whatever it takes to help the team. Because Antony ended up at left-back, Eriksen was also at 6, McTominay further forward. We were all giving everything we had to win the game.”

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