Bernardo Silva ready to battle Man Utd star Bruno Fernandes in bid to bring Portugal team-mate to Premier League
BRUNO FERNANDES is facing competition from Bernardo Silva to try and help their respective clubs land Joao Neves, reports suggest.
The Manchester United captain was hailed by fans over the international break after planting the seed of a transfer for Neves to the Red Devils.
Fernandes, 29, had told Sport TV: "I would love to have him at United. But it’s Joao's choice…
"He has top quality. He’s a great player but it depends on the coach's ideas. He will have a great future, in United or somewhere else."
However, "agent" Fernandes is not the only Premier League star who wants the 19-year-old midfielder to sign for their club.
Manchester City star Silva has also expressed his desire for Neves to sign for City instead.
He told B24: "If I can, I will pull strings to João Neves to go to Man City.
"I’d like to see João joining City instead of Man Utd, of course!"
However, the Benfica wonderkid will not come cheap.
The Eagles have no intention of selling one of their prize assets with Man Utd chiefs now "fully convinced" about his ability.
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And that means any club who want to sign him would need to pay his release clause, reported to be £105million.
Neves began training with the Benfica first team in January following the departure of Enzo Fernandez and has since made 38 senior appearances across all competitions.
The midfielder made his international debut for Portugal alongside Fernandes and Silva last month in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Neves featured from the bench once again during Portugal's most games against Liechtenstein and Iceland, the latter of which saw Fernandes score his sixth Euro 2024 qualifying goal in a 2-0 win.
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