Ruben Neves: wolf man
Porto debutant at the age of 17, Champions League skipper at 18, Wolves hero at 21… Ruben Neves has defied age and toppled records on his journey to Premier League stardom – but even that won’t get him out of cooking for his compatriots, he tells us...
On tatts, crackers and cooking
Ruben Neves is remembering the pain. “Five and a half hours,” he nods, looking down at his left bicep. Fourfourtwo winces – we are delicate souls. He’s talking about the tattoo which completely covers his upper left arm: a wolf leering over a forest and a set of goalposts, inked in one December 2018 session by Northern Irish artist Willy G. Sadly for Wolves supporters, this isn’t a tribute to his current club, although the artwork is certainly apt for the Portugal international’s current surroundings. As we discover from our afternoon sit- down with Neves, the wolf says a lot for his personality, too: intelligent, competitive and fiercely loyal in protecting his family.
As Neves smoulders and salutes on demand for our photography session, we remind ourselves why we’ve come to Wanderers’ Compton Park training ground. Every player featured in this issue of FFT is under 23. While Neves will celebrate that birthday later this month, it is genuinely hard to believe he’s still so young.
It’s not just in the way Neves carries himself either, because the midfielder’s playing career is advanced well beyond his years. He was a first- team regular at Porto from the age of 17 and their captain in the Champions League at 18; he has played approaching six full seasons across three divisions in two countries; and he has made well over 200 senior appearances for club and country. This summer, he will likely tick off another achievement by featuring at his first major tournament at senior level, as Portugal try to defend their European Championship crown at Euro 2020. Four years on from watching at home as his country upset the odds against France, Neves himself will be beamed onto the screens of a hopeful nation ready for more of the same.
This wolf has already travelled far. Yet there’s still a long journey ahead...
“I WAS A BALL BOY FOR A FEW YEARS – INCLUDING FOR JOAO MOUTINHO”
When Neves was only nine years old, his father had to go away. Neves Sr returned from working in Spain when he could, but for his son, the three years alone with his mother and sister made him grow up faster than many of the other boys his age. Looking back, it’s clear to him that this period of his life was more valuable than it felt at the time.
“These days, my father is a football coach down in the lower leagues with a team called Sanguedo, but when I was younger he had to go away to Spain, working as a constructor,” he tells FFT. “That was a really difficult time for us all, although it also helped us to grow a lot. Whenever people talk about my maturity,
my mentality, I think about that time in my life when it was just the three of us. I grew a lot in those moments.”
Back then, playing for Porto was all a young Neves ever dreamed of when kicking a ball on the streets of Mozelos, a small town in the city of Santa Maria da Feira, 20km from Portugal’s second- largest city. His family were all huge Porto supporters (“So, that was an easy decision for me”), and Neves joined his local club’s academy at the age of eight, just over a year on from their Jose Mourinho- powered 2004 Champions League Final triumph against Monaco. As we hark back to glory days gone by, it’s the only point of our interview where Neves shows his age.
“Yes, I remember that,” he says with a broad smile. “Going onto the streets with my father, mother and cousins – everyone went to the stadium to celebrate that night.
“I was a ball boy at Porto for three or four years in a row, including for Joao Moutinho. Of course, I told him this straight away when he came to Wolves, but he didn’t remember me. It’s funny how things work: I used to throw balls back to him, and now I’m playing with him in the Premier League.
“When I was growing up, I loved watching Anderson, who went on to play for Manchester United, and Ricardo Quaresma, too – he was a great player. When I was a little bit older, there was Moutinho, Radamal Falcao, James [ Rodriguez]… wow. The year that Porto won the Europa League [ in 2010- 11] – for me, that was one of the best squads ever. What a team.”
Neves didn’t have to wait long before he was being talked about in similar breaths at Porto. The arrival of Spain Under- 21 manager Julen Lopetegui in May 2014 resulted in the youngster’s immediate promotion to Porto’s first- team ranks, as the future La Roja and Real Madrid head honcho had liked what he’d seen at the U17 European Championship that summer.
Portugal, captained by Neves, were knocked out in the semi- finals by eventual winners England, but the skipper had done enough to earn his place in the team of the tournament. More than that, he’d done enough to earn a starting berth in Porto’s opening match of the 2014- 15 season against Maritimo, aged 17 years and 156 days.
And it got better. Sitting at the base of midfield alongside fellow teenager Oliver Torres and the more experienced Hector Herrera, Neves scored in a 2- 0 win.
“It was a crazy match,” says the Wolves man, grinning. “A Porto fan, 17, playing at the Estadio Dragao... unbelievable. Scoring on my debut was the most beautiful start I could think of.
“It was my dream to play for them, but at that time in Portugal, teams didn’t really pick too many players from the academy, so it was difficult. But then Lopetegui arrived and immediately called me to take part in pre- season, and I thought that would probably be my only opportunity to stay in the side. I tried my best to do that, and luckily I managed to stick around with the team for another three years after that.”
Five days after Neves’ debut, Lopetegui threw him in at the deep end again, this time for the first leg of Porto’s Champions League play- off against Lille. He became the competition’s youngest- ever Portuguese player, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo’s record.
“Of course that’s scary, when you’re really young,” reflects Neves. “You’re a bit nervous, playing in the Champions League for the first time, but then everything goes away at the start of the game. You just want to play and show everyone what you can do. Even now, you have that same pressure before games, but when they begin, you don’t think about anything else.”
Porto reached the quarter- finals of the Champions League that season, before their journey ended against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern
“IT WAS A DIFFICULT DECISION TO MOVE FROM THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE INTO THE CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT I SAW THE PROJECT”
Munich juggernaut. Neves appeared off the bench in both matches as Porto recorded a stunning 3- 1 victory at home, only to lose the second leg 6- 1 ( the score was already 5- 0 when Neves came on at half- time). The following season, however, Lopetegui went further by handing the teenager his captain’s armband for a group stage game against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was 18 years and 221 days old, and it smashed Rafael van der Vaart’s previous record of 20 years and 217 days, at Ajax. Needless to say, it came as a huge surprise.
“I was the player with more years at Porto than anyone else,” he explains. “Our captain, Maicon, had unfortunately got injured, but I never thought the manager would give me the armband. He did, though, and told me that it was because I knew more than anyone else about the club’s history – the way Porto play.
“I’d been captain in the academy since I was 10 or 11 years old, so to arrive in the first team and do it there, too, was unbelievable. A lot of my team- mates were older than me, and sometimes there can be doubts in that situation. But it wasn’t like that: they gave me all the confidence I needed, and that was great.
“I found out straight after the game that I had set a new record, when I saw the news. But I don’t take much notice of that stuff – it just happens naturally. I want to play and do my best, and whatever comes after is extra.”
However, in January 2016 Lopetegui was relieved of his duties by Porto – who would appoint their former reserve goalkeeper, Nuno
Espirito Santo, a few months later – and in a strange twist of fate, he came “very close” to becoming Wolves’ manager that summer. Lopetegui eventually wound up taking the Spain job while the West Midlanders went for Walter Zenga, then Paul Lambert, before they found holy matrimony with Nuno in summer 2017.
“Lopetegui is the most important person in my career for now,” says Neves. “He’s the one who called me to join the first team when I was only 17, which wasn’t a normal thing in Portugal at the time. A coach coming from Spain did that for me, and I’ll never forget it. The way he plays, the way he works... I think he’s a brilliant coach.
“I had some really good coaches who helped me at Porto. On my individual technique, passing quality and dribbling, I think the most important one was Pepijn Lijnders, who now works at Liverpool [ as first team development coach]. He taught me a lot with the ball.”
Unsurprisingly, Neves’ form for Wolves has led to links with several of Europe’s biggest clubs over the past three seasons – not least the Reds themselves, with Lijnders at Jurgen Klopp’s side. In an April 2019 interview with Portuguese outlet O Jogo, the Dutchman said, “I know him very well – his ambition, his passion for the game, his professionalism. I know what he gives to the team, and this type of player always interests us.”
“I LOVED PLA YING IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP . AND I KNEW THA T IF THINGS WENT WELL, I COULD PLA Y IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE”
For Liverpool and any other interested suitors, however, it won’t be easy to prise Neves away from Molineux any time soon. Wolves are utterly uninterested in entertaining the notion of a premature exit, and Neves is very happy in Wolverhampton. He’s married, has two children – two- year- old Margarida and 10- month- old Martim (“They keep me really busy, my friend!”) – and resides in the leafy village of Tettenhall, just a mile or two from Wolves’ shiny training complex.
Not only that, but Neves is part of a Portuguese playing contingent at Wolves that’s now nine strong, after the January arrival of winger Daniel Podence – 10 if you include honorary member Willy Boly,
who can speak “perfect Portuguese” according to Neves. They often meet away from the pitch and entertain one another. Neves and team- mate Diogo Jota had discovered a local café to get their fix of pasteis de nata, Portugal’s famous custard tarts, although sadly their prized local haunt is no more.
“No, it’s closed now!” sighs Neves. “It went last season, so there are no Portuguese cafés in Wolverhampton any more. Now, I have to cook some Portuguese dishes for everyone instead – francesinha, for example. We have a lot of dinners, and our wives go to the gym together, so for our families it’s really important to have this local community. It makes life easier here.”
The Premier League’s wider and ever- growing pool of Portuguese players also brings home much closer.
“I’m good friends with Ricardo Pereira, Diogo Dalot, Bernardo Silva – and now Bruno Fernandes as well,” says Neves. “There’s a lot of Portuguese players here, so that’s really good for our national team.” And what of Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United’s January coup? “You’ll see soon,” Neves replies with a wink. “You don’t see too many midfielders with his qualities.”
It’s all far removed from the summer of 2017, when a 20- year- old Neves first arrived in England. His move from Porto sent shockwaves through the Football League as the Championship’s biggest transfer of all time – and not just for the record- breaking £ 15.8 million fee. This was a full Portugal international, swapping his boyhood club
“WE HAD PLAYED 40 GAMES BY MID- FEBRUARY – A FULL LEAGUE SEASON – BUT WE DON’T MIND”
and Champions League football for Wolves, who two months earlier had come 15th in the second tier. Furthermore, Nuno had managed Neves at Porto the previous season and started him in only nine of the team’s 46 games. On the surface, it made little sense from his perspective. But it was a calculated gamble.
“When you train hard and work, even if you don’t play too much, good things will come,” rationalises Neves. “I was only 19 or 20, so still right at the beginning of my career. We [ Porto] had a great player in my position who had a really good season, and who now plays for Portugal with me – Danilo. So, my job was to work hard and do my best when the coach called me to be fit and ready. It helped Danilo as well, because he knew I was ready to play if his form dropped a little. It was a normal season, where I was improving as a player.
“Nuno knew me well from that season at Porto and gave me the opportunity to join Wolves. It was a difficult decision for me, because of that big move from playing in the Champions League to playing in the Championship, but I saw the project. I was really young and I knew that if things went well, I could play in the Premier League. That’s the dream of any player. I saw how motivated the coach was and I came here to do my best.
“To be honest, I absolutely loved playing in the Championship. Sometimes I tell my friends what a great league it is: very competitive, the fans, the atmosphere – it’s all so special in that league. I often tell them that the Championship is one of the best leagues in the world, even being in the second division. And it’s not easy – the competitive nature, the aggressiveness, the stadiums and the crowd. Actually, it’s why
I think playing away in the Championship was tougher than in the Premier League, because of these atmospheres. Luckily, we went up in our first season. It’s worked out well.”
That’s an understatement. Wolves stormed to the Championship title in Neves’ first year, racking up 99 points in a rampant campaign that led to their orchestrator sweeping Wanderers’ end- of- season awards and holding his own goal- of- the- season competition. All six of his league goals were struck from outside the penalty area, with the central midfielder saving the very best for last: a ludicrous rocket from at least 30 yards against Derby County at Molineux. Aside from a pair of penalties in his first Premier League season, the top flight has proved an equally highlight- happy breeding ground, as terrific goals against Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa have all demonstrated. Has he banned himself from scoring tap- ins? It almost pains the humble youngster to admit that he has always been handy from range.
“Yes, to be honest,” he explains with a chuckle. “I think it’s about the position I play. I stay a little further back, so the only chances I have to score are from outside the box. I know that I need to keep training that technique, but fortunately I’ve managed to score some good goals for Wolves. That’s my job, though: every time I’ve got a chance to shoot, I will. Since my days in the Porto academy, I’ve trained my shooting from good ranges. It has always been a crucial part of my play.”
Wolves have certainly been blessed by the investment of Chinese conglomerate Fosun International since the summer of 2016, but the club’s owners have also done things the right way since their high- profile takeover. They certainly made the right call in 2017 by appointing Nuno, who
has since steered them from second- tier obscurity to qualification for the knockout stages of the Europa League. Neves has been there every step of the way with him.
“He’s a tough guy,” admits the schemer. “He has a few ideas and wants everyone fully focused every time to do things right. But that’s a good thing, because we need to concentrate 100 per cent in every minute – not only in matches, but in training, too. That’s what makes us a hard team to beat.
“All of the players who came to Wolves [ in 2017] believed in what the club was trying to do, and the coach’s ideas. That was the main thing: everyone was heading in the same direction, following Nuno and playing really compact. If you look at our shape, it’s difficult to break. We counter- attack and play fast with the ball. Every player did a great job because they were so focused on getting promoted in our first year.”
Following promotion, Neves skipped his team- mates’ celebratory jolly in Las Vegas, only to narrowly miss out on Fernando Santos’ Portugal squad for the 2018 World Cup. Instead of moping around, he prepared for his first Premier League campaign – a campaign in which newly- promoted Wolves ultimately finished 7th, qualified for Europe and claimed the scalps of Chelsea, Tottenham, Leicester, Manchester United and Arsenal en route.
Neves played with one of his heroes in Moutinho, brought in from Monaco that summer for a staggeringly low £ 5m. Although it’s the younger Portuguese midfielder who is Wolves’ crown jewel, protégé holds master – 10 and a half years his senior – in very high regard.
“Joao is a great player, a great guy, and I’m very happy to be here with him,” Neves tells FFT. “He’s the most intelligent guy I’ve played with so far, and he helps us a lot in training and in games. At Porto, I remember him being a smart player who always made the right decisions for his team. Joao is someone every team would want to have – not only does he help them to play their way, he’s also there in defence to steal the ball. We’re lucky to have him.”
“I W ANT TO WIN A TITLE WITH PORTUGAL – THA T’S THE MAIN THING. AFTER THA T? THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE”
The 2019- 20 season has already been a long one for Wolves. By the time of the Premier League’s February break – in which Nuno took his players to Marbella for a gruelling mid- season training camp – they had already played 41 games in all competitions. Pre- season consisted of just two ties in the Premier League Asia Trophy, before competitive fixtures began on July 25 with a Europa League second qualifying round match against Northern Ireland’s Crusaders.
But, after a shaky start in the league, Nuno’s team are still in the hunt for Champions League football next term – and you won’t hear anyone making excuses about their hectic schedule.
“Nuno always says to take things game by game, but it’s the truth – don’t think too much further, don’t look at the table,” says Neves. “We know that we can beat a lot of teams with our style. We have already played over 40 games – it’s like a Premier League season by the middle of February. But it’s OK: we prepare ourselves to do that with the people here – the coaches, the physios… we’re always fit to play. I don’t mind the number of games, because we want to play as much as we can. As long as you have the right people to prepare you, then you should be OK.”
Neves won’t get much of a summer, either, if things go to plan. Four years ago, when Portugal won Euro 2016, he was resigned to watching on a wall projector alongside 40 of his family and friends, but that won’t suffice this time. Neves started in the semi- final win over Switzerland as Portugal followed a poor World Cup with victory in the 2019 Nations League, and he is confident they can compete in a daunting group alongside France and Germany.
“Of course it’s exciting and really difficult, but Portugal have shown they can cope against any team,” he asserts. “We must prepare well and do our best to get out of that group.”
They have every right to be. With Cristiano Ronaldo hunting down the all- time international goalscoring record in the most prolific form of his Portugal career, there is reason to believe Neves can quickly tick off the biggest item of his bucket list this decade.
“A title with my country – that’s the main thing,” he reveals, with a nod. “After that? The Champions League.”
And why not? If Ruben Neves’ senior career to date shows what he can do in five years, imagine how the next 10 could look.