Romano reveals the state of play of Man Utd's Joao Neves pursuit

Tom Weber

• Updated: 17 Feb 2024 12:00 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have been scouting Joao Neves on multiple occasions, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Benfica wonderkid has burst onto the scene and established himself as one of Europe's most exciting midfield talents. Thrust into the first team after Enzo Fernandez's record-breaking move to Chelsea in January 2023, Neves quickly became acclimatised to senior football.

Since then, the youngster has gone from strength to strength, becoming a regular starter for Roger Schmidt's side and a sought-after commodity on the market. Man Utd were already interested in the 19-year-old in the summer and their attraction has not dissipated.

In fact, their admiration has only increased over time and, according to Fabrizio Romano, they have been frequently scouting the midfield prospect. The problem is that Benfica are experts when it comes to selling talent. Neves reportedly has a €120 million release clause and it is unlikely that the Portuguese giants will settle for anything below €100m.

Romano's Neves update

Now, Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on Man Utd's interest in Neves, insisting that is still too early for anything concrete to materialise due to the Red Devils still being in the process of reshaping their recruitment department after Sir Jim Ratcliffe's acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in the club.

“Joao Neves’ situation will be discussed in the summer for sure, between Benfica and the player’s agent,” Romano told CaughtOffside. “Man United are being linked, but again, they still don’t have a director in place and are working on new signings/summer plan as I mentioned many times."

“So, all the names of clubs that are in the media are just for scouting. Joao has been scouted multiple times by Man United, I already reported that in October/November. Nothing new so far.”