The pivot position is the subject of most news coming out regarding FC Barcelona these days, as Sergio Busquets’ departure has left a gaping hole in the squad, and the club has been unable to tie another player to replace him.
Still, the Catalans are doing their best to get a quality midfield pivot this summer, and have been associated with a number of players.
One of the players that the Blaugrana club was recently strongly associated with is Ruben Neves, who has been playing with the Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers for the last few seasons, but said his goodbyes at the end of last season.
The player was quite close to a move towards Camp Nou, as the super-agent Jorge Mendes wanted to bring the player to Catalonia as a part of the compensation for Ansu Fati, who would have gone the other way.
However, Ansu Fati himself has been reluctant to move away from Barcelona, and despite being quite close to a move, the operation for Ruben Neves has not yet materialized for FC Barcelona. Such a move can be fully jeopardized in the coming days, as Matteo Moretto claims that the Portuguese midfielder is currently in negotiations with the Saudi side, Al-Hilal.
Neves has been a trusted starter for Wolves, as he made 41 appearances for them in the last season, scoring 6 goals and giving 1 assist. However, Xavi and his staff had not entirely been convinced that the player possesses the technique and ability to play in their preferred style, and thus were not too keen to get him on the team.
If these reported negotiations between Neves and Al-Hilal come to a fruitful conclusion, it will eliminate another candidate from FC Barcelona’s list of their next pivot targets. However, the Camp Nou faithful would not be too unhappy with missing out on him, as he is not as decorated or skilled a player as other targets like Joshua Kimmich and Martin Zubimendi.
