Are you sure it’s last year? If that’s the case I can’t see Wolves demanding anything more than 40m. However I’m sure that would have been widely reported if that was the case.
Ruben Neves | Signed for Al Hilal (SA)
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I rate Neves and would be happy if we got him but De Jong is much better than him.
Contract expires:Jun 30, 2024
We've dwelled so long on Frenkie that if we go for Neves now Wolves will know how fecking desperate we are and will ask for a premium fee
No doubt about it but he's pissing us around
Those 3 would not close the gap tp City or Pool or make united close to a EPL title. They are babies and both still unproven especially Kennth who is hardly a starter at Ajax. Just look at VDB as an example, he joined United after being at the peak of his ability and you see how much of a non impact he made and has made so far. Then their is Sesko who scored a total of 10 goals in the Austrian league while playing for the super team of the land. This is not FM and signing Taylor and Sesko does not make United better then Spurs,Chelsea or Arsenal who are fighting for a top 4 place as well.
These are young players worth scouting but none would make United a top 4 side right now and 100% would not make them compete for the EPL. FDJ is a brilliant player and he IS a guy United should be looking to acquire along with Neves for the right price.
Also Kenneth Taylor right now is not better then Neves and I would strongly argue that Neves was better then Kennth Taylor when he was 20 years old. His passing range, shooting, and technical ability were far ahead of Taylor at 18 when he was captaining Porto in the CL.
For example another guy I rate higher then Kenneth Taylor is Enzo Fernandes who just joined Benfica from River Plate. Huge talent in Argentina who has looked fantastic for Benfica and I would not be surprised to see him linked to top clubs come next summer. The same can apply to someone like Matheus Nunes who is coveted by many top clubs in Europe.
Neves can be an interesting passer and is better then the current options of Scott mctominay and Fred. He is not a defensive powerhouse but that is not his game either. Just look at Michael Carrick for reference on what Neves COULD bring. I emphasize again though...for the right price.
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If you think United don't need this level of passing and ability in the middle of the park you're smoking dust. I think Carrick and Scholes were the last two guys at United who I remember can ping a pass like that but correct me if I'm wrong.
I don't think Neves is this world beater but he is a good player who can absolutely play in a top 6 side.
No, thanks. As weak as they come. It doesn’t matter how good you are at passing if you can’t resist pressing opposition.
My club really fell off. damn
So they’ll fleece anyone who comes in this late in the window for him.
United have Scott Mctominay and Fred as their starting midfielders... Its like being stranded in an island starving but choosing not to eat the chicken because your vegetarian...options are slim at the moment,Neves would be quite the upgrade on those guys you have in midfieldfor the right price until United can convince a world class midfielder to join the club.
Yeah after googling more, I'm not sure I was correct
. sportrac mention that his contract will expired next year, but transfermarket mention it's gonna be in 2 years. I guess if Wolves does hold out for higher fee then sportrac is wrong No he's notWould make sense if he was cheap. Given his level we should be able to find others given either way won't get real class in this scenario.
I think the point is that we're looking for better than a top 6 midfielder.
I'm of the opinion that we have enough average, lightweight players. Stick with what we've got until we can bring in players who will actually add quality. Neves' deficiencies will be exploited here sharpish, and we'll be inevitably left with more deadwood to shift.
I think you may be underrating Neves a lot here but we can agree to disagree.
We do have a similar player in Eriksen now. Dead ball specialist and pass master. So not sure if we would go for Neves now. Seems different from FDJ if he is to be the alternative?
Well since we are not getting De Jong, we should seriously get this signing done and move on. He is at a good age, even if he does not work out, we can move him on next season. People here are saying he would not start for City/Liverpool but currently we need to think about Arsenal and Spurs, sadly they are our competition and he will definitely start for both of these sides, plus he will be a big improvement on Mctominay.
Lets hope we get our senses back, stop with the never ending pursuit of De Jong and sign him up and get other attacking targets. We need to be in top 4 for attracting big players. It's essential we start well and get top 4 this season and then maybe we can nab De Jong next season.
Lets hope we get our senses back, stop with the never ending pursuit of De Jong and sign him up and get other attacking targets. We need to be in top 4 for attracting big players. It's essential we start well and get top 4 this season and then maybe we can nab De Jong next season.
If we are looking at De Jong like player profile, Neves will not fit in. Irrespective, I think he's a good player and can potentially work well with Fred, but if Wolves are demanding 60-70m, it's not worth it. At 35-40m, he'd be a good buy. I'm sure this has been considered and passed over.
It doesn't hurt to have more than one midfielder who can pass a football.
This is the key point and one ten Hag recently made. We can sign a lot of players who'll improve our midfield, thats not our aim, it's the standard of player we want to sign which is significant.
Sure Neves would upgrade our midfield, but he isn't quality enough to get us challenging for major honours.
Hmmmmm, interesting. On balance though, I'd much rather moan about "McFred" and how awful everything is at Manchester United than bring in a player who is clearly an upgrade in a part of the pitch that desperately needs an upgrade. My heart is set on FDJ, a player I know very little about having never actually watched him play, but I will be devastated with humiliation if Manchester United, a team I sort of watch with one eye on an illegal stream whilst berating in real-time, don't sign.
No thank you, Ruben Neves. I don't want your talent here, you're a waste of the Glazer's money, which I'm both protective of and angry about.
Must be going now, I've not told everyone how wank Scott Mctonminay is for about 5 minutes, and hear I Marcus Rashford has done something for kids again and I'm fecking fuming.
Neves is actually closer to Busquets than de Jong.
de Jong would actually be more of a Pogba replacement (LM position in midfield 3), so putting him in midfield two would be a classic United move.
Neves works with 35yo Moutinho, so I guess he could do a bit better with Fred in midfield two.
We could fit both de Jong and Neves in one team easily, but if we're going only for one then Neves simply makes much more sense.
Barca setup:
Busquets
Pedri/Gavi Paez -------- de Jong
Wolves setup:
Back 5
Neves --- Moutinho/Dendoncker
Busquets
Pedri/Gavi Paez -------- de Jong
Wolves setup:
Back 5
Neves --- Moutinho/Dendoncker
de Jong would actually be more of a Pogba replacement (LM position in midfield 3), so putting him in midfield two would be a classic United move.
Neves works with 35yo Moutinho, so I guess he could do a bit better with Fred in midfield two.
We could fit both de Jong and Neves in one team easily, but if we're going only for one then Neves simply makes much more sense.
But ETH's line of thinking assumes that only players at major clubs can improve us significantly and help us challenge and that is just not true. When you are a club in our position (not the richest, far from the best, in a rebuild), you have to shop where the current contenders won't to be able to get value and build a strong foundation. There are great players outside the major clubs and that is where you have to start. Players at major contenders want a stable team that is already contending. We cannot offer it. Does that mean we stop trying to improve and go with what we have even though what we have is widening the gap between the contenders and us?
That mentality of "only the very best" will get nothing done if you are not the very best club and that is why we are where we are today. We are trying to jump when we haven't even started walking.
That is a very good point. We've been guilty of that sin for a long time when it comes to midfield. The second sin is we get players who excel in one system and then make them play a different role (last example: Paul Pogba, recent example van de Beek, we will probably do the same to Eriksen and there's a huge risk with de Jong being pushed into midfield two without a competent defensive-minded partner).
Looking from that perspective signing Neves is a low-risk scenario.
Bingo. I understand the concerns about transfer fee, but "he's not much better than what we already have" is a shocking statement for two reasons: one, I can't imagine Fred/McTominay playing close to Neves level for Wolves, and two: they are different players, in a way Neves is a type of player who would complement Fred/McTominay/van de Beek rather than replace one-for-one.
The comparison to Merino is irrelevant. He plays in a much less intense league.
plus the fact we have waited for the start of the season which will make it harder for them if they need to find his replacement.
I think some posters are severely underrating the impact Ruben Neves would have in the team. Let's not forget we're playing Scott McTominay every game next to Fred, who offers virtually nothing. Neves was Porto's captain in a Champions League match at the age of 18, and I think people don't warm to him because he didn't progress how he was expected to, and also because he plays in an underwhelming Wolverhampton side. But he is 25 years old, and midfielders often improve with age and simply by playing with better players.
He's one of the most technically gifted Portuguese midfielders, deadball specialist, plenty of leadership, vision and an outrageous passing range. Like @SportingCP96 said, we haven't had a player with a passing range like that since Scholes and Carrick. He'll also likely bang in some absolute worldies occasionally. Great positioning and works very hard (even though he's a bit slow and not very agile).
Having said that, I prefer de Jong because I think he suits our needs better, and is a better player apart from long range passing, deadballs and shooting. However, if we don't get de Jong, we need to make sure we have another option ready. Absolutely cannot go another full season with McFred.
He's one of the most technically gifted Portuguese midfielders, deadball specialist, plenty of leadership, vision and an outrageous passing range. Like @SportingCP96 said, we haven't had a player with a passing range like that since Scholes and Carrick. He'll also likely bang in some absolute worldies occasionally. Great positioning and works very hard (even though he's a bit slow and not very agile).
Having said that, I prefer de Jong because I think he suits our needs better, and is a better player apart from long range passing, deadballs and shooting. However, if we don't get de Jong, we need to make sure we have another option ready. Absolutely cannot go another full season with McFred.
That's what I don't understand. Neves was a prodigious talent that started playing high level football really early, is an excellent all round midfielder and he's not even in his prime yet. He just happens to play for Wolves.
That is the exact kind of player we should be signing.
He did but never build on that early potential.
Neves is a Fergie type signing all day long.
How does he look when he plays for Portugal?
How does he look when he plays for Portugal?
Well in all fairness, he was just badly advised as a Mendes client going to Wolves. He's a well established Premier League midfielder at 25, he's ready for the next move. Progress doesn't have to be directly linear.
So I will disagree with this a bit. He does get forward. He likes to get himself just outside the box and shoot and he will do that and get a few goals.
However he does rely a lot on his midifield partner also being combative and working hard to win the ball to share a lot of the responsibility. And despite his reputation as a passer, the numbers arent that impressive for him in regards to doing that and being effective over 90 mins. So I suspect that if we signed him and asked him to play possession he would mostly be similar to Fred's passing but with 1 or 2 nice balls over the top ala Carrick, Pogba or Lindelof. An improvement over what McTomminay does with the ball for sure but I feel like there are midfielders who could take us up 3 or 4 levels over Fred-McTomminay and Fred-Neves would be going up 1.
Even if he's not world class, he's still better than what we've got.
Absolute bollocks and I don't even know where to start. So if we don't manage to get this world class player in FDJ we will go out there and look for the next one of the same ilk? Which is who exactly? And these significant standard of players who we should only target do they wait on the wings to come and play in the Europa League alongside dogshit quality like McT and Fred?
We are not challenging for major honours any time soon, though. Our priority target this season is top 4, but our current squad is not good enough either in quality or depth.
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