Portuguese wonderkid Pedro Neto has reportedly snubbed Barcelona and Manchester United to remain with Braga.
Spanish publication Sport have reported that Pedro Neto has turned down an official offer from Barcelona. The teenage prodigy will also reject advances from Manchester United, opting to stay with Braga instead.
Neto has emerged as one of the most exciting young prospects in Portugal having made big strides at Liga NOS outfit Braga. Still only 17, the player has rapidly progressed through the ranks at the club. He is already a well established member of Braga’s reserve side and also made his first-team debut recently.
The midfielder has some impressive stats to show for his efforts, with 16 goals in 21 matches for Braga B, and has already scored his first goal for the senior side as well, finding the back of the net just minutes into his debut.
Pedro Neto debuted and scored for @SCBragaOficial on 14 May 2017 becoming the first player born in the 2000s to play in the @ligapfp! pic.twitter.com/W6DXmAJZut
— PortugueseFootyMemes (@FutebolMemes) May 15, 2017
Neto has made quite the impression with his technical abilities, while also possessing a lightning quick burst of pace that often makes him a menace for opposition defenders to deal with. And with the youngster being touted to achieve big things, it is unsurprising that he has attracted the attention from some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
In fact, the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Barcelona have all been heavily linked with Neto in recent months. But the latter two clubs were believed to be leading the race to sign him, with both eager to recruit him for their youth setup.
In fact, Neto had also visited the facilities of Barcelona and Manchester United and, as per the Braga president himself, he already had one foot out of the club. However, as per the report, the player has turned down the opportunity to represent one of these clubs, instead opting to sign an improved deal with Braga until 2020.
Manchester United have one of the most revered academy setups in England, and the club has popularly provided promising youngsters with the opportunity to become full fledged first-team members.
With the kind of promise that Neto has shown in his young career so far, he could have potentially gone on to achieve big things with the Red Devils.
Meanwhile, Barcelona had been closely following Neto’s progress for a long time, and the club had also made an official offer for the player. The Catalan cub, too, were looking to recruit Neto for their youth setup before providing him with the opportunity to make the grade with the senior side.
However, it now looks like Neto is not going anywhere anytime soon, as he is set to continue his development at Braga. Indeed, with the opportunity to play regularly for the first team looming large for the player, the decision to gradually move on to a bigger club could prove to be best for his career.
