At Estadio Da Luz, the gifted youngster is already well-known, and he might soon be headed to Old Trafford.

Benfica has an almost unmatched track record in the European game when it comes to developing fresh players. Everyone in the club, but especially Rodrigo Magalhaes, the technical coordinator for the academy, is passionate about their work.

In a February interview with The Athletic, Magalhaes stated, “[I want] to have at least six or seven players consistently in the first team, win the Champions League, and then one, two, or three of them win a Ballon d’Or.”

Last seasоn, Rоger Schmidt’s team came dangerоusly clоse tо winning a Eurоpean champiоnship. Neutrals were captivated by a surprising run tо the Champiоns League quarterfinals, with prоminent perfоrmances by Gоncalо Guedes, Flоrentinо Luis, and Gоncalо Ramоs.

Since then, Ramos has moved on to fresh pastures at Paris Saint-Germain. Like Enzo Fernandez, Darwin Nunez, Ruben Dias, Joao Felix, and Ederson before him, he found it impossible to refuse a lucrative move to a bigger team.

Although Benfica shapes future superstars, the trutҺ is that they are not long-term acquisitions. More often than not, Europe’s elite is now keeping an eye on the Portuguese champs in an attempt to be the first to sign the next wonderkid.

At the moment, it seems to be Joao Neves, whose release clause was reportedly raised to €100 million (£109 million/$88 million) in the summer. Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claims that Manchester United has already taken notice of the 19-year-old and is rumored to be organizing a January transfer raid.

Neves started his football career at the Algarve training center five years after he was born in September 2004 in the small Portuguese town of Tavira. When Neves turned eight, he had already joined Casa Benfica Tavira, a Benfica feeder team where his father was a coach.

At the Benfica training facility in Faro, Ramos and the player, who was coming through the system at the same time, became fast friends. Even though Neves was only 13 years old, he was eventually given his debut for Benfica’s Under-15s in 2017, and in October of the same year, he signed his first contract with the club’s academy.

Benfica signed him to their first professional deal in 2020, realizing they had another star on their hands. Neves’ contribution in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League, where he played in seven games as Benfica won the competition for the first time, placed him on the verge of playing professional football. Neves participated in two European Championship qualifying matches that season and was also selected for the Portugal U19 team.