Neville claims Liverpool, Arsenal target would ‘be comfortable in any midfield in Europe’

Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have both waxed lyrical about Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves.

Neves once again impressed for Wolves in their 1-1 draw at Fulham on Friday evening.

The Portuguese international has been at Molineux since he made the shock move to the then-Championship outfit in 2017.

He has been linked with a move elsewhere over the last few seasons, but has remained loyal to the Midlands club.

The 25-year-old’s contract expires in 2024, meaning Wolves could decide to cash in at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.

Having been linked with Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool in recent months, journalist Dean Jones recently said that Neves is still on the Gunners’ radar.

“Players like Youri Tielemans or Ruben Neves are still players I’d consider to be on Arsenal’s list,” Jones told GiveMeSport.

“They’re players we should probably look out for in this window or at the end of the season.”

Speaking before Wolves’ draw at Craven Cottage, former Liverpool defender Carragher admitted that he thought Neves would have moved on a long time ago.

“You impress at Wolves and maybe there’s another move on after,” he said on Sky.

“I thought Ruben Neves would be at Wolves for a couple of seasons and then move on to a Champions League club and I’m surprised he hasn’t made that move, for whatever reasons.

“Whether it’s ’cause clubs look at him and think he’s not quite the right profile. But you look at him what he was doing at Porto, captaining that team at such a young age I thought it was a natural progression.”

Carragher added that he is “convinced” Neves has what it takes to play at a higher level.

“It’s not quite happened yet but he is a player you look at and think can he make that next step and I’m convinced he can,” he added.

Neves has also been linked with Barcelona over the last year or so, though it is unclear whether or not they have the funds available to land the 25-year-old.

Liverpool need a whole new midfield and are being linked with every player under the sun, while a new midfielder is also on the agenda for Manchester United.

Red Devils legend Neville does not think Neves would struggle to fit in at either club, stating that he could ‘comfortably’ play in “any midfield in Europe”.

“It’s interesting that you should say about Neves, he’s been at Wolves quite a long time,” Neville told Carragher.

“I genuinely believe that Ruben Neves could go and sit in any midfield in Europe in any team in any league and be comfortable.”

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