As per Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Liverpool have joined Manchester United and Chelsea in the race to sign Benfica wonderkid Joao Neves this summer.
The 19-year-old has been in fine form for the Primeira League side with three goals to his name in over 65 appearances.
Neves is also capped three times by the Portugal national team and manager Roberto Martinez has included him in the recent competitions.
Such has been the midfielder’s influence that top European clubs like Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Man United, Chelsea and now Liverpool are continuously monitoring his progress.
The youngster’s current contract with Benfica runs until 2028. He has a £105 million release clause and the club would be hoping to increase it to £130m if such interest continues to rise.
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Will Liverpool meet Benfica’s astronomical demands for Neves?
They could make a huge profit from his sale but it would be difficult to gather such a sum from other clubs. Neves is still very young and paying anything close to that sum will be a mistake.
Liverpool are known to spend wisely and they can get much better players at a cheaper price. The Reds know the importance of signing a midfielder and they worked on it last summer.
They roped in Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis MacAllister and Dominik Szoboszlai. Neves can be a long-term addition if he is available at a lower fee.
Anything above £70-85m is just too much for a player with a lack of experience at the top level.
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The English giants haven’t placed any concrete offer and it remains to be seen whether they make the first move in this transfer race.
Liverpool will be well aware of the fact that they need a new manager at the start of the new season and any incoming coach will be pleased by having such quality signings on board.
