Ruben Neves: What Porto heroes say about the superkid
Right now. At this moment. Ruben Neves is the hottest 18 year-old talent in the game.
And they're queuing up for the Porto midfielder: Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich. The world's biggest and most glamourous clubs all eager to take the teen off Porto's hands.
Here's what some of Porto's big-name identities have to say about Portuguese football's latest young gem:
RODOLFO REIS - PORTO LEGEND: "He has reached very early maturity, he is a player who is achieving everything very quickly but with merit. The coach has helped a lot, relying on him, not only in one position but in several.
"And he has responded.
"Merit (Julen) Lopetegui who discovered this talent, because it was he who did so. And merit to the player who reached the first team and did not tremble.
"It's great for FC Porto to have a player like this coming from the youth."
ANDRE CASTRO - EX-PORTO PLAYER (NOW KASIMPASA): "I feel very pleased to see Ruben Neves assert himself.
"I think that anyone who truly likes FC Porto, likes to see players of the academy to rise. You see that he has more quality than the foreigners, much more.
"I'm very happy seeing Ruben Neves get his chance."
BRUNO MARTINS INDI - PORTO TEAMMATE: "Ruben Neves is the future of FC Porto."
JULEN LOPETEGUI - PORTO COACH: "It was at that time [building his original squad] which began the explosion of Ruben.
"He's a guy who I knew from the Portuguese under-17 team and when I saw him live it was decided he must stay with us.
"He had a number of qualities that meant that we wanted him to stay with us. It's not a sin to be young and his quality on the field makes up for lack of experience. He has been growing very quickly individually, as well as with the whole team."
FERNANDO - EX-PORTO PLAYER (NOW MANCHESTER CITY): "When I left FC Porto, i did not know him, I had never heard of him or had even trained together.
"And when he appeared, I even thought that Porto had bought a new player.
"But he is a great player with great quality. He has been a great surprise."
PAULO ALVES - EX-PORTO JUNIOR (NOW LIVERPOOL): "When he came to Porto, I played very little for the final three seasons.
"I did not play as much as I wanted. I felt I was no longer happy there.
"I decided to leave because I felt I could not have another season when I was not playing regularly."
RUI SILVA - EX-PORTO JUNIOR (NOW SANTA CLARA): "Ruben is a year younger than me. We both joined Porto at the same time. He went into the lower age group.
"We always traveled together.
"Seeing him make his debut made me very proud. It was inspirational. I believe the same can happen to me one day."
LUIS CASTRO - PORTO B COACH: "Players (at Porto) every day are training and treated like men, so they have to play as a man.
"Ruben Neves must play like a man, because he is treated as a man.
"Julen Lopetegui knew all about him, after receiving information and observing Ruben, he immediately recruited him to the first team of FC Porto."
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