Man United ‘hold talks’ with Benfica to sign ‘the next Bruno Fernandes’

Manchester United are reportedly in talks with Benfica to sign a teenager who has been dubbed ‘Bruno Fernandes 2.0’.

This summer, United have spent big on the likes of Mason Mount, Andre Onana and Rasmus Hojlund.

United have also been linked with the likes of Marc Cucurella and Sofyan Amrabat ahead of transfer deadline day.

Now, according to The Sun, the Old Trafford club have held talks with Benfica over 18-year-old wonderkid, Joao Neves.

Despite being dubbed the next Fernandes, Neves has a completely different profile to the United captain.

Neves is more of a defensive midfielder or central midfielder, whilst Fernandes tends to be deployed in a more advanced role within Erik ten Hag’s side.

It has been reported that Chelsea are also keeping tabs on the teenager but Benfica are reluctant to deal with the Stamford Bridge club over the way they handled the Enzo Fernandez transfer saga back in January.

When Fernandes joined United back in January 2020, he transformed the club’s fortunes straight away.

To date, he has scored 65 goals in 188 matches across all competitions for the Red Devils.

After Saturday’s dramatic 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, Fernandes said: “We knew that if we scored a goal in the first half, the fans will get behind us. Even when it was 2-0, the fans were still pushing for us, still there for us.

“And obviously when we get that goal, it gives everyone a lift - players on the pitch, the fans in the stands, and they know that this team is capable of a comeback.”

Getty

He added: “This club has a lot of achievements in comebacks in the games when you're losing, so they know that we're capable of that, they know we have a great spirit on the team. We have a great passion that we will do the right things to get the result.”