MANCHESTER UNITED and Chelsea could be beaten to Joao Neves after a Premier League rival joined the transfer race.
The Red Devils have been tracking the Benfica midfielder for months while Chelsea have also been keen for a while.
Benfica are protected by a £103million release clause for the midfielder – who is widely seen as the next big Portuguese thing.
There are even claims that the Lisbon side want to increase their release price to £129m.
And that would eclipse the £105m the Blues paid Benfica just last year for Neves’ predecessor Enzo Fernandez.
But United and Chelsea – both enduring dismal seasons in the Premier League – might suffer more disappointment in the summer.
That’s after Liverpool entered the race for the five-cap Portugal star.
According to Portuguese outlet O Jogo, the Reds have emerged as major contenders to snatch the Benfica star.
Jurgen Klopp completely revamped Liverpool’s midfield last summer with the arrivals of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.
That has seen the Reds shoot right back into title contention this season.
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But, despite not currently having a manager in place for next season, they remain on the lookout for further reinforcements.
They will, however, have to spend big with United reportedly already setting aside £86m to start the bidding process.
Neves made his professional debut for Benfica in December 2022 and has emerged to be an essential member of the squad since then.
The midfielder has started 41 of his 46 appearances this term, bagging three goals and two assists so far.
Bayern Munich and PSG have also shown interest in the Benfica midfielder.
By Dave Kidd
MANCHESTER UNITED and Chelsea were the two dominant forces in English football when Sir Alex Ferguson and Roman Abramovich were in their pomp.
But when they meet at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night it will be a ‘so what?’ match between dysfunctional clubs lurching in and out of crisis.
On Saturday, Erik ten Hag’s United failed to build on an FA Cup win over Liverpool and were poor in the 1-1 draw at Brentford.
And Mauricio Pochettino put out a Blues side that failed to beat ten-man Burnley at home.
Will either be in a job next season? And will it make much difference?
United have only won a League Cup in seven years and Chelsea’s last domestic honour was the 2018 FA Cup.
Both clubs are sinking towards irrelevance.
