Ruben Neves' career path has been somewhat of an unusual one.
Breaking through at Porto and captaining the club as an 18-year old, he was seen as one of the brightest young prospects in world football. It was expected that he would soon end up at one of Europe's biggest club, but he made the surprising decision to move to the Championship instead.
The midfielder signed for Wolves in the summer of 2017, helping them to promotion to the Premier League in his debut campaign. He has remained at Molineux ever since, going on to be named club captain this season after the departure of Conor Coady.
Neves made the move to Wolves due to his connections with Jorge Mendes, and while the club have performed well in recent seasons, it has been a surprise to see him stay there for so long.
The 25-year old has consistently been linked with big money moves elsewhere, although it turns out that the decision to stay put was his own.
Ruben Neves turned down Liverpool & Manchester United
The Portugal international drew interest from a number of clubs once again this summer, including some in the Premier League. However, it appears as though he rebuffed those advances with one eye on the 2023 summer window.
Spanish outlet SPORT are reporting that Ruben Neves turned down the opportunity to sign for Liverpool and Manchester United in recent months as he has his heart set on a move to Barcelona next year.
Barcelona signed a huge number of players prior to this season, although their financial situation meant that a move for the Wolves man would have to wait until 2023. As a result, the player rejected interest from other suitors in order to wait for a move to the Camp Nou.
Both Liverpool and Manchester United were in the market for midfielders this summer at various points.
Liverpool initially made a play for Aurélien Tchouaméni only for the Frenchman to sign for Real Madrid, while it was reported that they were considering a bid for Neves near the end of the window before then signing Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus.
As for United, they spent much of the summer chasing Frenkie de Jong, then going on to sign Casemiro from Real Madrid. They are one of the club's that have most consistently been linked with Ruben Neves in recent years.
At 25-years old, the Portugal star will certainly be considering his next career move. It looks as though Barcelona are the likely destination, with the club already planning for his arrival next year.
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