Manchester United target Ruben Neves is reported to have made a ‘sacrifice’ which his agent, Jorge Mendes, found “crazy” in hopes of joining Real Madrid.

Neveshas found his way onto United’s midfield shortlist of late. The likes of Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson and Carlos Baleba consistently feature, though all will be very expensive assets.

Neves is out of contract with Al-Hilal in the summer and could therefore be cheap in January or would come free at the end of the season.

It has been confirmed that Unitedhave made contact for the midfielder, but reports in Spain suggest Neves is instead looking for a move to Real.

Defensa Centralreports Neves is willing to ‘make a significant financial sacrifice’ in order to join Real.

He is reported to be earning a salary of €18million (￡15.7m) in Saudi Arabia, and was willing to drop that to just €6million (￡5.2m) to join Real, for a reduction of 66 per cent.

In response to that, his agent, Mendes, reportedly referred to Neves’ decision as “crazy.”

In any case, Real president Florentino Perez is said to be unwilling to sign the Portuguese midfielder.

A move to United also seems unlikely, after Fabrizio Romano poured cold water on it.

The transfer insider said: “Let me be clear, I didn’t post anything on Ruben Neves on my social media, because there is no news on Ruben Neves in terms of negotiations, in terms of bids, in terms of talks.

“What Manchester United did is to be in touch with the agent who also represents Ruben Neves. But Man United didn’t start a real negotiation with Ruben Neves, with Al-Hilal to sign the player.

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“So at this stage, nothing is moving. They spoke about several players, not just Ruben Neves, several opportunities, something like ideas, opportunities, talents.

“Ruben Neves is represented by one of the most powerful agents in football. So that’s something absolutely normal, but nothing has really changed so far.”

Currently, it looks as if Neves would remain in Saudi Arabia until the summer, by which point he’ll be able to walk away on a free transfer, and will surely have some good clubs interested in picking him up.

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