Manchester City leading race to sign Portuguese midfielder

Manchester City have now suffered consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since 2018 after a 1-0 loss against Arsenal on Sunday. 

The defending champions were beaten 2-1 by Wolves last weekend and Gabriel Martinelli’s late strike at The Emirates on Sunday inflicted a second successive defeat on Pep Guardiola’s side.

Both sides struggled to create chances in North London, and Martinelli’s late goal took a huge deflection off of defender Nathan Ake, wrong-footing goalkeeper Ederson.

The Citizens remain third in the top flight table, just two points behind leaders Tottenham Hotspur, but Guardiola will be hoping to see his side improve when domestic football returns after the international break.

In the meantime, City are said to be leading the race to sign a promising young midfielder.

As per 90min, the reigning European champions are in pole position to sign Benfica midfielder Joao Neves.

Neves has emerged as a target for several top clubs from across Europe

The 19-year-old has been a regular for Benfica over the past 12 months and has now made 31 appearances for the club across all competitions.

His impressive form hasn’t gone unnoticed, though, with several top European clubs said to be interested in the teenager.

The report claims that City are leading rivals Manchester United, as well as European clubs including Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund in the race to land the youngster.

Neves, who has received his first senior international call-up to the Portugal squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers later this month, is currently contracted to Benfica until 2028.

That puts his current employers under very little pressure to sell the midfielder, but he is said to have impressed scouts of both Manchester clubs and could therefore be the subject of at least one bid when the transfer window reopens in January.

City did sign Matheus Nunes from Wolves over the summer but have already lost Kevin De Bruyne to a long-term injury that will keep him out for several months, and their midfield frailties were on show at The Emirates in the absence of the suspended Rodri.