Portuguese and Porto’s highly rated teenager Ruben Neves has emerged as a target for Premier League defending champions Chelsea. However in their bid to land Neves, the Blues will have to edge out the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, who are also interested in 18 year old midfielder.
According to earlier reports, the Porto midfielder who has been likened to Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets was reported to have been close to departing Porto, with English club Liverpool keen on the midfielder but their interest died down. Nevertheless, Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho has taken a strong interest in the 19 year old and a move for Ruben Neves could become a possibility in the January transfer window.
Rúben Diogo da Silva Neves born in the Mozelos, Aveiro District started his youth career by joining Porto academy at the age of 8. As he progressed through the ranks, he was subsequently loaned out to Padronese FC which is intended to be Porto’s U-16 team for a short period of time.
After an injury to teammate Mikel Agu he was called up to the main squad by Porto manager Julen Lopetegui who was impressed with the 18 year old and subsequently kept him in the team. On 15 August 2014, aged only 17 years and five months, Ruben Neves made his league debut in a home win against C.S. Marítimo and later became the youngest player in the club’s history to score a goal in the competition.
He also played his first game in the UEFA Champions League five days later, breaking another record by being the youngest Portuguese to appear in the tournament as he featured 73 minutes in Porto’s play-off round win against Lille OSC.