Man Utd and Arsenal handed Ruben Neves transfer blow as Wolves star is ‘crazy about joining Barcelona’

MANCHESTER UNITED and Arsenal have reportedly been dealt a major blow in their pursuit of Wolves star Ruben Neves.

The Red Devils have tried to sign the Portuguese international in the last two windows with the Midlands club holding firm so far.

Neves, 25, has been on United’s radar for some time with ex-boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanting to snap him up last summer before other acquisitions got in the way.

United then attempted to sound out a £35million deal for him in January but Wolves played hard-ball and would only accept offers of upwards of £40m.

But they remain keen with incoming boss Erik ten Hag planning to make another move.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are also keen on bringing him to North London.

And with a potential transfer warchest to play with should the Gunners secure Champions League qualification, they were plotting a summer swoop.

However, now Spanish publication states that Neves is only “crazy about joining Barcelona” and hopes to move to the Nou Camp.

His agent, Jorge Mendes, enjoys a good relationship with the LaLiga side’s top brass and helped finalise Adama Traore’s switch from Molineux to Barca in January.

Now he is allegedly working to make Neves’ dream a reality and take him to Spain.

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Neves has been at Wolves since 2017 and helped them rise from the Championship to the Premier League.

He still has two years left on his current deal with the club.

However, he has made it no secret that he wants to play in the Champions League sooner rather than later and is stalling over signing an extension.

Wolves accept they may have to cash in on Neves in the next few months if contract negotiations continue to stutter and instead rebuild under Bruno Lage.