Hands off, Man Utd! Benfica have no plans to sell Joao Neves in January as they set astronomical price tag for starlet

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Portuguese champions have no intention of negotiating a sale for the Manchester United target in January. Romano adds that the Red Devils will have to shell out his astronomical release clause of €120m (£105m/$131m), which was set during the summer if they are to add him to their squad.

Neves appears to be a very promising player, so it wouldn't be shocking if someone made a sizable bid for him at some time. However, United will undoubtedly have difficulties in acquiring him in the winter. The Red Devils' summer investment was rather limited since they chose to sign players on loan rather than pay for permanent additions in positions, such as Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat.

Neves has a sizable release clause, similar to the one Benfica had with Enzo Fernandez in January of last year. However, on that occasion, Chelsea ultimately paid the release clause to bring him to Stamford Bridge, something that the Red Devils may be unlikely to do.

With Erik ten Hag's side suffering from a lot of injuries in defence and midfield, there is still a slight possibility that they may be forced into completing the signing for Neves in January, or completely scrap him as a target and go for a different player altogether.