Rúben Neves


Rúben Diogo da Silva Neves is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team.

Club career

Porto

Born in Mozelos, Aveiro District, Neves grew up supporting FC Porto and joined the club's youth system at the age of 8. During his time with the academy, he also spent a season on loan at Padroense which acted as the under-16 side; on his time in the youth structures, reserve team manager Luís Castro described him as a player with "extraordinary mental qualities, to go along with technical and tactical skills".
Ahead of the 2014–15 campaign, Neves was earmarked to bypass Porto's under-19s and play with the reserves instead. Following an injury to teammate Mikel Agu, however, he was called by Julen Lopetegui to be part of the main squad's pre-season preparations. On 15 August 2014, aged 17 years and five months, he made his Primeira Liga debut where he started and scored in a 2–0 home win against Marítimo – in doing so, he became the youngest player in the club's history to score a goal in the competition. He played his first match in the UEFA Champions League five days later in a 1–0 win over Lille, and broke another record by being the youngest Portuguese to appear in the tournament.
On 10 December 2014, during a Champions League group stage fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk, Neves suffered an injury to his right knee following a collision in midfield with Alex Teixeira. At the end of the game, the club explained that he suffered a sprain, with apparent damage to the internal lateral ligament. After spending nearly a month on the sidelines, he returned to the pitch in a 3–1 home win over União da Madeira in the Taça da Liga; following his injury, his role in midfield was filled by Casemiro and he spent the majority of the remainder of the season behind the Brazilian in the pecking order.
On 20 October 2015, aged 18 years and 221 days, Neves became the youngest player to start as captain in the Champions League, helping Porto to a 2–0 win against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the group phase and surpassing previous record holder Rafael van der Vaart, who held it since 16 September 2003. On 5 December, in a 2–1 success over Paços de Ferreira also at the Estádio do Dragão, he broke another record by becoming the youngest player to achieve 50 games for the club, surpassing players like Fernando Gomes and Jaime Magalhães.
Neves scored his second competitive goal on 3 February 2016, opening the scoreline in a 3–0 triumph at Gil Vicente for the semi-finals of the Taça de Portugal.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 8 July 2017, EFL Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers announced that they had signed Neves for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £15.8 million – a club and league record fee. Upon joining, he was reunited with former Porto manager Nuno Espírito Santo. He scored his first goal on 15 August, in a 3–2 away win over Hull City.
In April 2018, Neves was nominated for the EFL Championship Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards, and was also included in the Team of the Season along with teammates Conor Coady and John Ruddy. His team was ultimately promoted as champions with the player scoring six goals in 42 appearances, all of which were scored from outside of the box; at the conclusion of the campaign, he claimed a hat-trick of club awards as he walked away with the Player of the Season, Player's Player of the Season and Goal of the Season accolades. On 7 April 2019 it was also announced that Neves had been awarded the EFL Goal of the Year award for his goal against Derby County at Molineux in April 2018.
Wolves announced that Neves had signed a new contract in July 2018, extending until 2023. In the first match of the new season, he scored his first Premier League goal and assisted Raúl Jiménez in the latter's competitive debut, as his team twice came from behind to draw 2–2 against Everton. His appearance in the match, alongside compatriots Rui Patrício, João Moutinho, Diogo Jota and Hélder Costa also saw the club break the league record for the most Portuguese players named in a starting line-up.
On 6 October 2018, Neves made his 50th appearance for Wolverhampton and marked the occasion by contributing in the build-up for Matt Doherty's winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Crystal Palace. The following January, his 55th-minute winning goal against Liverpool at Molineux in the FA Cup, "a venomous dipping shot from that beat Simon Mignolet at his near post", was voted the best of the third round by visitors to BBC Sport's website.
On 25 September 2019, Neves was made Wolves' club captain for the first time, when he led the team in the absence of regular skipper Conor Coady as Wolves secured progression to the 2019–20 EFL Cup Fourth Round with a penalty shoot-out victory over Reading at Molineux in the clubs' Third Round fixture.

International career

Youth

Neves represented Portugal at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, helping the country reach the semi-finals as team captain. For his performances, he was named among the top ten talents of the tournament by a selection of UEFA reporters.
On 29 August 2014, still aged 17, Neves was called by coach Rui Jorge to be part of the under-21 side. He scored his first goal on 14 October, helping to a 5–4 home win against the Netherlands for the playoff round of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
When the finals began in the Czech Republic, Neves broke a new record by becoming the youngest player to debut for the Portuguese under-21s in the tournament, aged 18 years and three months, playing five minutes to help beat England 1–0 in the group stage opener. It was his only appearance, as the country reached the final and lost it to Sweden in a penalty shootout.

Senior

Neves was first called up to the senior squad on 10 November 2015, ahead of friendlies against Russia and Luxembourg as an injury replacement for João Moutinho. He made his debut in the former match, featuring 17 minutes in the 0–1 loss in Krasnodar, then played the entire 2–0 win against the latter at the Stade Josy Barthel, sharing the midfield area with Porto teammates Danilo Pereira and André André.
Neves was selected by full side manager Fernando Santos to a preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but he did not make the final cut.
At the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home soil, Neves played in the 3–1 semi-final win over Switzerland, but was dropped from the starting eleven for the final against the Netherlands for the more defensive Danilo. In that match at his former club ground the Dragão, he came on in added time for William Carvalho as the Portuguese won 1–0.

Style of play

An article on UEFA.com described Neves as a defensive midfielder who is not afraid to go forward and prompt attacks, showing great maturity combined with an accurate passing skill, great vision and an astute sense of positioning. His playing attributes also granted him comparisons to Portuguese international teammate Moutinho for his fine first touch, similar desire to press his opponents and excellent distribution.
Neves also drew praise in the media for his technical, tactical and mental qualities, as well as his intelligence and long-range shooting ability.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers
Portugal
Portugal U21
Individual