The agent of Ruben Neves has provided an update regarding the future of the Wolves midfielder.
What’s the word?
That is according to Sport, via Sport Witness, who claim that the 25-year-old’s name has “been on the table at Barcelona for months now.”
With the Blaugrana reportedly “willing to study carefully” the potential signing of Neves, Jorge Mendes is “working to make it a reality in June.”
Can Neves replace Busquets at Barca?
According to the outlet, Barcelona have “reactivated” their interest in Neves, after initially discarding him as an option, as they look to secure a long-term successor for Sergio Busquets.
According to Sport Witness, super-agent Mendes has been “convincing Barca’s sports management and Xavi for months.” With Neves said to be “crazy to join” the Catalan giants – even if it’s through a loan deal.
The new Busquets
Mendes clearly wants to afford his client the opportunity to step into the shoes of the legendary Sergio Busquets, who has been the metronome in that Barcelona side for 14 seasons.
Sport Witness claim that “Barca’s sporting leaders have given their approval for his arrival”, though the economic aspect of the deal is yet to be discussed.
In truth Neves offers a more well-rounded service in midfield, with both Nuno Espirito Santo and Bruno Lage’s three at the back systems the cause of this development.
Though Neves’ previous and now current manager opting to use a 3-4-3 formation, Neves has not been afforded the chance to slot into the role of a defensive midfielder.
As such, his numbers reflect this, with his defending stats slightly overshadowed by the Barcelona captain.
And although he shares similar passing numbers on the whole to Busquets, the Spaniard is slightly better when it comes to passes completed, boasting an average of 70 passes per 90 minutes. Neves completes an average of 56 passes per 90.
They are evidently quite similar, both positionally and stylistically, but Barcelona’s gain would clearly be Wolves’ loss.
After all, this is a player who has played 207 times for the Old Gold, helping them achieve promotion, cement themselves in the top-flight, and reach promotion.
He is a vital player to the cause and seeing that Mendes, someone who has been so beneficial in bringing players to Molineux, tout his services to other clubs is likely to leave supporters aghast.
In other news: John Percy: Wolves now eye swoop for the “next Mbappe“, he’s better than Jimenez…
