Ten Hag ‘convinced’ to buy stylish Benfica star for Man Utd as ruthless Ratcliffe looks to move on costly signing
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has reportedly been talked into the signing of Benfica star Joao Neves with the club determined to bring in him as a successor to a player who could prove the first big-name casualty of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era.
The British billionaire will shortly see his £1.4bn investment into Manchester United officially ratified, giving Ratcliffe a 25% stake of the Glazers’ shareholding. And while it is not the full-scale together many fans will have expected, they will be hoping it is the start of a bright new era at Old Trafford.
It seems Ratcliffe is eager to make his presence felt pretty quickly around the club too. On Wednesday United announced the exit of chief executive Richard Arnold, with two other big club figureheads expected to soon follow.
And there are also expected to be wholesale changes to the playing squad too; part of Ratcliffe’s remit will be to oversee the transfer department at Old Trafford which has been badly guilty of letting the club down in recent years.
To that end, United have spent well over £1bn since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 to little success. Over £400m of that has been handed to Ten Hag, and while the 2022/23 season went well, this season has seen all connected to United suffer a major dampening of expectations.
And one the most costly arrivals of his era, Casemiro, has seemingly been singled out as as example of the club wasting millions.
Indeed, United shelled out £70m to bring in the Brazilian from Real Madrid, despite the fact many in the Spanish capital felt the then 30-year-old’s “legs had gone”.
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Ratcliffe wants to replace Casemiro with Joao Neves
While Casemiro enjoyed an excellent first season at United, Ratcliffe feels it’s a signing that the club will see or little or no return over.
And with the 75-times capped Brazil star now being strongly linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, amid claims Ratcliffe wants him gone, attention is now turning to his possible replacement.
Now it seems Ten Hag has been convinced to bring in a much younger player and one that Ratcliffe is seemingly convinced is fully equipped to replace Casemiro is Benfica’s Joao Neves.
Indeed, we exclusively revealed back in October that United were keeping a close watch on the Benfica midfielder’s services with a view to a possible move.
And with Fabrizio Romano confirming earlier this week that United have been watching him extensively in the last few weeks, Portuguese outlet Record claims United boss Ten Hag is now ‘fully convinced’ that he wants to make the teenager his next big arrival at Old Trafford.
Prising him away from the Portuguese giants, however, will not be easy. The 19-year-old is contracted to Benfica until 2028 and his release clause is set at a mammoth €120m (£104.7m).
However, United do have a close relationship with his agent, Jorge Mendes, are reportedly considered the only side capable at this stage of signing him in the January window.
Competition strong for Benfica star
Interest in Joao Neves is also there from both Chelsea and Juventus. However, Mauricio Pochettino’s side are not in the market for a new midfielder – their priorities will be centred around a new striker and a new centre-half in January – while Juven just don’t have the financial clout.
Joao Neves, for his part, is reportedly not in a hurry to leave, given the breakthrough year he has enjoyed at the Estadio da Luz.
However, with Bruno Fernandes pushing to link-up with his Portugal teammate at Old Trafford, the sale of Casemiro – together with the saving on his £200,000 a week wages – can give the Red Devils a genuine chance of securing the teenager’s signature.
Neves got his major breakthrough at Benfica following the sale of Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea last January. And the player – described as a composed, energetic, tough-tackling midfielder with an excellent eye for a pass – has gone on to make 38 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals.
