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- [00:00]
Unknown Host
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- [01:33]
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- [02:04]
Unknown Host
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- [02:13]
Colin Miller
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- [02:15]
Unknown Host
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- [02:17]
Colin Miller
Credit approval terms apply. The Athletic.
- [02:26]
Andy Jones
Yes, guys, ayo here. What you're about to hear is an episode of the Radar the Athletics Bite size Profiles of the 12 most exciting young players at the Euros and Copa America this summer. Think of the episodes as essential scouting reports. What makes the players special why there's so much fuss and why this summer could be their breakthrough moment. All of the episodes from the series will land on this podcast feed before the tournaments get underway and we'll be back with some big preview episodes next week. All you need to do is enjoy.
- [03:05]
Unknown Narrator
He'S considered the next big thing to come out of Benfica's billion pound football talent factory. 19 year old midfielder Joao Neves has followed in the footsteps of the likes of Bernardo Silva, Darwin Nunez, Joao Felix and Ruben Diaz to come through the Portuguese champions academy. But he's already forging his own path as one of the next great stars. The departure of Enzo Fernandes to Chelsea paved the way for his emergence in the first team and he simply hasn't looked back back since. This is the radar where we'll take you inside the story of some of the game's most exciting upand cominging talents who look set to become the faces of the next generation. A quick, agile and technically gifted central midfielder with formidable tackling ability, stamina and composure, Neves has already put in man of the match performances and and scored important goals. He may have just five Portugal caps to his name, but there are transfer rumours swirling and huge price tags being placed on him. So will this summer's Euros be the stage upon which Joao Neves really announces himself to the world?
- [04:57]
Colin Miller
I'm Colin Miller, I'm a news writer for the Athletic. John Neves is a guy who has all the attributes that you would want for a central midfielder. Obviously he's technically very good, he's very comfortable on the ball, but I think what makes Joan Eva stand out is the fact that he can carry the ball in tight spaces, he can control the ball, he can weave his way through and that's, that's really essential whenever teams are looking to transition from defense in the attack. And he can carry that alone. He's a ball carrier but he's deceptive as well because he's a very slight of frame guy. He's only 5 foot 9, so he's not physically imposing but he doesn't shy away from tackles. He's actually quite good in the air when you look at his stats and his aerial jewels one and everything like that. So this is a guy who's almost, almost a complete package of what you want and he usually plays in a sort of deep lion midfield role but he carries an attacking threat too and you're looking at his game and you think there's probably no real weakness there.
- [05:54]
Andy Jones
Hi, I'm Andy Jones, Liverpool and Burnley correspondent for the Athletic. He's a young, all action midfielder pretty much, and that he pretty much can do it all. He's obviously sort of burst onto the scene over the last 18 months, really, but he's basically been viewed as the next cab off the rank, if you like, in Benfica's illustrious academy, which continues to just produce insanely good players. I think he joined when he was 12 and sort of progressed through to the youth ranks and was part of the youth league cup winning side and then basically was waiting for that real opportunity at, you know, first team level and he just about broke into the side and then Enzo Fernandez disappeared off to Chelsea and. And that sort of gave him the platform to, to come in. And since then he's pretty much been a star and one of the brightest young prospects, I think, in European football.
- [06:44]
Colin Miller
Benfica are a club who pride themselves on developing players, whether it's their own youth players that come through their system or from the South American players that they buy and then develop through that. So Joan Neves came in to replace Enzo Fernandes as soon as Enzo Fernandez was sold to Chelsea. But that explains why Benfica was so keen to do that deal. Because what had happened was that Benfica, during the World cup in 2022, a couple of months before that move, Joao Neves had essentially got a chance to train with Benfica's first team during the winter training camp and the coaches saw him first and it was like, this guy's the real deal, he's ready. And they knew that he could just walk in and replace Enzo Fernandez directly in that team. So they were keen to do the deal with Chelsea. They obviously pocketed that money and they move on. And I think the thing about Benfica too is that this is a club who always will look to sell. They'll look to do a good deal for the club because they view it as, look, we can pocket this money and we can reinvest in our squad and our facilities and everything else. So in terms of a potential transfer as well, their club, who maybe bigger or more established clubs in the grander scheme of things, we'll look to maybe do business with.
- [07:52]
Stuart James
Hi, I'm Stuart James and I'm a football writer at the Athletic. I was super fortunate in January last year to go out to Lisbon to spend some time, Access all areas. 48 hours with Benfica's Academy to find out how this fantastic Portuguese club produces so many super talented young players. And it was an amazing experience. I had the impression of a group of people, staff who are all super connected, working Together in a really good way. Watch the players train from the really young ages, from under eights, under nines, all the way through to the under 20 threes team. And, yeah, it's a really special place. Along the corridors there, you've got images of all the players. It's a long corridor because they brought so many through over the years. And that's a wonderful kind of motivational tool, I think, for all the young players who come out the changing rooms every day and walk past and see their heroes over time and hope to be the next one off the production line, really.
- [08:49]
Andy Jones
Someone needs to find out the secrets of what they do, because whether it's through developing players from a young age, like, you know, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Diaz, for example, or it's through the scouting, you know, being able to identify young players and bring them in for cheap and then sell them on for massive prices. Evans and Fernandez being the most recent obvious one. They've got a secret formula and it continues to work. And, yeah, he's been, you know, sort of, I think, one that's been pinpointed for a number of years as. As a possibility of being the next one to. To be excellent to Benfica, but then go on to even bigger and better things. And I think it's fair to say they're going to make a lot of money from him, and if he has a good tournament, then they'll be rubbing their hands together, I think it's fair to say.
- [09:30]
Unknown Host
Hello.
- [09:30]
Stuart James
Mark Carey here, data analyst for the Athletic. Joan Neves is the latest Portuguese talent off the Benfica production line, and plenty of people are talking about him. He's just 19 years old, but he plays with a maturity well beyond his years and has an energy that's hard to match. And he's only 5 foot 9, but he doesn't shy away from the action at all. And looking at the numbers, no player in the Portuguese Primeira Liga averages more than Joan Neves 80.7 passes per 90. But similarly, no player makes more ball recoveries than his 8.2 per 90. So it shows that this is a player who likes to be in the heart of the action. And if he doesn't already have the ball, he'll work hard to get it back quickly.
- [10:14]
Andy Jones
He's sort of just good at everything, both in possession and out of possession. You know, he reads the game really well, even though he's not, you know, particularly tall. He's. He's impressive aerially as well. Wins more aerial dues than you might expect someone of the height to win. Compress really intensely as well. But then in possession, has sort of got the, the passing range, wants to play forward, wants to be creative. The only thing you would probably say he hasn't quite added the, the goal contributions and the goals and assists to his game yet. But he's only been around for 18 months really and sort of the first team so you know, he can't be great at everything straight away. So I'm sure that that is, you know, the next element of his game that he'll add to it. But yeah, it's just when you look at it, there's no, there's no real obvious flaws. I don't think he'd necessarily be your number six defensive midfielder if you like, but you know, he's more of that number eight type midfielder. You can sort of do it all and sort of all action across the pitch.
- [11:05]
Colin Miller
He's had five caps but he hasn't started a match for Portugal. But this is the interesting thing, he's featured in each of the most recent five games And Portugal play a three man midfield and the only player who's really guaranteed of his place, not me, feels Bernardo Silva, who plays a more advanced role, more on the right than centrally. So the position is there. Stop for grabs. Think Roberto Martinez was quite, he chopped and changed quite a bit during the qualification campaign. In terms of the profile using Octavia was used quite a bit. William Carvalho was used, Ruben Neves was used and obviously he's, he's not playing in Saudi Arabia and Joao Pollini is sort of coming out of the team. So he hasn't actually decided upon players. So Joanne, at this moment in time isn't an established player in the international team, but he's certainly one that has become a key part of the squad and it's increasingly becoming in. So this could be the case whereby he might not even start in the first match of the tournament. But there is the possibility that by the knockoff stages, should Portugal get there, he could increasingly become a key player for them.
- [12:03]
Andy Jones
Might be one of those that rebuilds himself into it and his performances maybe from the bench initially, you know, give him the opportunity to start if Portugal go long in the competition. So it'd be interesting. But yeah, I think the expectations for him is that he's going to be one of the, the big future stars for Portugal. So whether it's at this tournament or in future tournaments, he's going to be, you know, a significant part of their future. And Portuguese fans, I'm sure will hope that this is the start of him setting a pretty impressive legacy at major tournaments.
- [12:33]
Colin Miller
They never had a particularly star player at the base of that midfield as Spain have had a lot in the past decade or so, obviously. So I think in terms of the Portugal outlook they're seeing, this guy can make his mark on a generation and he can be our first choice central midfielder for the next 10, 12 years potentially. Obviously you can avoid injuries and everything else, but this is a guy who's got so much potential and there is a lot of excitement about him. And this is a country who are a football mad country of only 10 million people, but you look at the squad of players that they have and the fact that this guy is already seeing as he can stand out above the others that are around him, there's a lot of excitement here.
- [13:11]
Andy Jones
I think what's great for him is that you could see him fit in anywhere. I think he would be an asset to any team that he sort of goes to. You can sort of see him playing in any of the, the top teams in Europe, in England, and I think that's, that's going to be the marker for him. I think while he's been able to establish himself of Benfica, it's whether he can establish himself as a starter for Portugal. And using the Enzo Fernandez example, again, if he has a tournament like Enzo had, then you're likely going to see a lot of clubs in and around that release clause. And I think Benfica might be not necessarily forced to sell, but I think that they've got to keep an eye on financial fair play as well, so that may come into play as well. So I think when you look at Manchester United, it's not a surprise that they're linked with him because their midfield has been questionable at this season, it's fair to say. So I think having someone like him who, who's shown that he can, you know, maybe not perform at the top, top level yet in terms of the Premier League, it's, there's a bit of a drop down to the Portuguese league, but you know, he shows all the signs that he can make that transition. So yeah, it wouldn't be a surprise if, especially if he has a good tournament, but if he doesn't, will teams maybe not want to maybe trigger that race clause and get up to that point? Possibly they may want to give him a little bit more time, but what he's shown so far suggests that there's no point waiting around for a player like him because he's got all the talent to just keep getting better. And better.
- [14:32]
Colin Miller
Manchester United would make a lot of sense in terms of what Manchester United need as a midfield profile. And I think Casemiro's future at Manchester United is in doubt this summer. There's a lot of reports that he could be moving on and Manchester United don't really have the profile player who links defense and attack. And you mentioning Bruno Fernandes, who obviously plays alongside international level is is a guy who's incredible at what he does, but he's a player who takes a lot of risks, whereas Joanne Neves gives a lot more a lot more sense of assurity and what you're going to get in terms of ball retention and in terms of linking up those little bits of play that Manchester United need. And I think with United having Kobe Minor as well, he would complement that perfectly. It'll be one to watch. Definitely. The athletic.
- [15:34]
Unknown Advertiser
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- [16:06]
Unknown Host
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- [16:14]
Colin Miller
Chase Sapphire Reserve cards issued by Morgan.
- [16:17]
Unknown Host
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- [16:18]
Colin Miller
Credit approval terms apply.