Chelsea are reportedly ‘considering’ making a move to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder João Neves, as per Spanish outlet Fichajes.
After being impressed by the 21-year-old’s performances for SL Benfica, Les Parisiens decided to purchase him by paying a big fee ahead of last season.
Upon moving to Parc des Princes, the youngster enjoyed a stellar debut campaign last term, winning the treble. He even helped his side reach the final of the Club World Cup before losing to Chelsea last summer.
This season, Neves has continued to display impressive performances, making eight goal contributions across all competitions. He has even lifted the FIFA Intercontinental Cup and French Super Cup.
After proving his worth in club football, the PSG star has secured his place in Roberto Martinez’s Portuguese national team.
Now, Fichajes state that Real Madrid are keen on addressing their midfield problems by purchasing Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea, and the Blues have already started ‘working’ to replace the World Cup winner.
The West London club have identified Neves as the ‘priority’ target and are ‘considering’ launching a £108m bid to seal the deal. They are even ‘confident’ that the French giants would open negotiations over this move after seeing the huge bid.
Neves to Chelsea
Neves played in a double midfield pivot role at Benfica, but Luis Enrique has been using him in the box-to-box role in his preferred 4-3-3 system. Moreover, the Spanish boss has deployed the youngster in the right-back position in Achraf Hakimi’s absence at times.
Chelsea currently have Moisés Caicedo, Enzo Fernández, Romeo Lavia, Dario Essugo, and Andrey Santos as midfield options. However, Essugo and Lavia have had fitness problems, while Santos is still very young and needs time to develop.
As a result, Caicedo and Fernandez have been taking on enormous workloads this season. Therefore, if Chelsea fail to keep hold of the former Benfica star, they need a top-class option to replace him.
Neves is a highly talented player and is considered one of the best young midfielders in the world. So, he would be a great coup for Chelsea should they purchase him.
However, it is going to be interesting to see whether Liam Rosenior’s side eventually manage to lure him to Stamford Bridge in January or next summer.
