Benfica will need to work quick for Neres

Benfica have a great opportunity in front of them presented by the unfortunate situation in the Ukraine as many foreign players look set to depart clubs from the Ukraine and Russia during the summer transfer window. One of those players is 25 year old winger David Neres who just joined Shakhtar Donetsk during the winter window from Ajax for €12M after spending the past five seasons in the organization.

The Brazilian winger is said to be on the wish list of incoming manager Roger Schmidt who got a first hand look at Neres while managing against him while at PSV in the Eredivisie League. Neres has yet to play a game for Shakhtar since joining the club, as the league was in its winter break when the Ukraine was invaded by Russia and had to shutdown operations temporarily.

Benfica do have a trump card in negotiations with Shakhtar as the Ukrainian club have yet to pay the full €17M from their summer acquisition of winger Pedrinho from the Lisbon side. Benfica are hoping that they will be able to unlock the early form of Neres with Ajax before he suffered a severe knee injury that saw him miss almost all of the 2019/20 season. Benfica are not alone in their pursuit of Neres, as Italian giants Juventus have also had their name linked to the player.