If your club gives you a release clause in excess of £100m, it’s usually a sign you’re something special. That could very well be the case for Joao Neves, the young Benfica midfielder who is expected to make a big move this summer.
Neves, 19, has reportedly attracted interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, but it is Paris St-Germain who are being spoken about as his most likely destination.
The teenager has already helped his boyhood club to a league title and played at a European Championship before turning 20.
Will Neves follow the likes of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Enzo Fernandez to become another of the Lisbon giants’ great exports?
Neves, a Benfica academy graduate, got his opportunity in the starting XI thanks to Fernandez’s departure.
The youngster only made his debut on 1 January 2023 before Chelsea spent a British record on bringing Argentina midfielder Fernandez to the Premier League on transfer deadline day later that month.
“Without Enzo we dipped in quality,” explains Filipe Ingles, from the podcast Benfica FM, who feared the title might be slipping from the Eagles’ grasp.
Boss Roger Schmidt turned to Neves in the run-in and the midfielder repaid that faith with a goal in a 2-2 draw with rivals Sporting that proved crucial in securing the league for the first time in four years.
“Next game we won, were champions and Joao Neves was the hero that saved the day in the dying moments,” says Ingles.
Neves has gone on to make 50 Primeira Liga appearances, starting 33 of those, while scoring four times and registering one assist.
“He becamed a staple in the starting XI and was probably our best player all season,” adds Ingles. “There were games where the manager and the team was booed, but not him. Never him. Because Benfica fans see him as one of ours and he always plays well and gives everything.”
The midfielder also made his international breakthrough and has so far featured nine times for Portugal, including in two of their Euro 2024 matches.
What to expect from Joao Neves?
Neves is often used as more of a deep-lying playmaker, making the fourth-most passes into the final third of any player in Portugal’s top flight last season and winning the third-most tackles.
“A lot of people in Portugal see a comparisions with Joao Moutinho,” says Ingles, who also likens his style to Xavi or Andres Iniesta.
“He’s that kind of midfielder that seems to do everything well – the passes, the position, the first touch, the balance.
“You see that he’s always running and thinking about the game, never relaxes a minute, is never out of position. And he’s very, very confortable with the ball.”
Neves is only 19 and has not even played two full seasons of top-flight senior football, but Ingles says he has proved to be “incredibly mature”.
“He got in the starting XI at the most tense games,” he adds. “And it felt like he had been in that position for 10 years.
“His mother died a few months ago and some days later he was playing, despite Benfica telling him he could mourn her.”
Neves was also the player to front up after what Ingles call an “embrassing” 5-0 defeat by Porto least season.
“He was the one that came and talked to the fans after the game,” he says. “Not [Nicolas] Otamendi, not [Angel] Di Maria. He was the one that came to talk to the press.”
Is now the right time to move?
Benfica president Rui Costa confirmed a bid had been made for Neves when speaking to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, external, but did not reveal who had made the approach.
“There is a proposal on the table which is being evaluated and is being discussed,” said the Portugal legend.
“But at this moment, Joao Neves remains a Benfica player. It’s not that I want to hide the ins and outs because I understand that Benfica fans want to know whether Joao will be leaving or not.”
In response to reports that Neves would only leave for his £101m release clause, the president added: “I never said that Joao Neves would only leave for his release clause and therefore, those claims are false.”
Ingles fears any move may also be coming too soon for the player – but believes it may be easier for him to settle in France’s Ligue 1 than the Premier League.
“Despite his maturity, I think he’s making the same mistake as Joao Felix, Goncalo Ramos or Renato Sanches: he’s leaving too soon,” he says.
“I don’t know if he’s ready yet. And as with Darwin Nunez, it’s one thing to be good in the Portuguese league, it’s another in the top five leagues.
“Here if you’re good, you stand out. In England, everybody around you is as good or better, so you struggle. He’s very small and I don’t know if he would cope with the phisicality of the Premier League.”
So is he destined for the very top?
“I would gamble that he will be a very good player, make a very good career, but will never be a world class player,” adds Ingles. “But who knows, he’s only 19.”
