Romano confirms Man Utd scouts watched Benfica wonderkid in Lisbon derby

Cameron Smith

14 Nov 2023 21:44 GMT
3 min read

Manchester United scouts were in attendance for Benfica’s 2-1 win over Lisbon rivals Sporting CP on Sunday, with a specific focus on Joao Neves.

Article continues under the video

The Benfica wonderkid has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford, and FootballTransfers understand the Red Devils are tracking the midfielder, but any deal won’t happen until next summer at the earliest.

Now, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Man Utd sent scouts to watch Neves in action against Sporting this weekend.

They will not have been disappointed either, as Neves scored a 94th minute equaliser for Benfica before Casper Tengstedt netted three minutes later to secure a memorable win for Roger Schmidt’s side.

Former Brighton & Hove Albion and Coventry City forward Viktor Gyokeres had opened the scoring for Sporting, but they fell to their first defeat of the season after conceding twice in stoppage time.

The loss was compounded further by the fact Benfica now lead the way in Portugal.

Man Utd not alone in Neves interest

90min have reported that a dozen clubs sent scouts to watch the game, with Neves among a host of players being monitored.

As per their report, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham United made up the Premier League contingent in the stands; scouts from Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Celtic also watched on.

In addition, Romano has confirmed that Neves was being monitored by Man Utd scouts during the match.

Furthermore, he also reported that Neves is being tracked by the Red Devils’ scouting department, but the club are waiting until board changes are confirmed before making a decision regarding their pursuit of the Portuguese wonderkid.

Neves’ goal against Sporting was just his second at senior level, with his first also coming as a 94th minute equaliser versus the same opposition back in May.