Russia’s invasion of Ukraine gave clubs around Europe a chance to raid the likes of Dynamo Kyiv and Shakhtar Donetsk for their best players.
One man who wanted to leave Ukraine was David Neres because he had just moved there before the invasion.
Reports linked him with a move to Juventus, but the Bianconeri were not serious and Benfica won the race for his signature.
He helped the Portuguese side to dump Juve out of the Champions League at the group stages and is having a wonderful season.
Deputy director of Shakhtar Carlo Nicolini has now revealed how the Bianconeri missed signing him.
He said via Calciomercato: “The Neres situation has been underestimated by all insiders. There were many clubs interested, such as Juventus, and it was a mistake not to sink into those figures. We’re talking about a level player who moved to Benfica for a figure of around 15/18 million, who at Ajax was playing with Antony, who was sold to United for 100 million .- they are demonstrating it. Juve saw him very well live.”
Juve FC Says
Neres is a top talent and proved his worth at Ajax before moving to Benfica.
It remains unclear why we didn’t move for him, but we made some fine signings and they are beginning to hit top form.
It is possible that Neres might have struggled if we had added him to our squad.
