Portuguese star Ruben Neves reveals he was close to joining Barcelona last summer | OneFootball

Portugal international Ruben Neves was a long-term target for Barcelona and last summer the midfielder thought he would be getting his dream move to Barcelona. Manager Xavi Hernández was a huge admirer of the 26-year-old, but had some reservations about his ability to perform in the ‘Sergio Busquets role’.

Consequently, Barca failed to turn their interest into a concrete approach and Neves moved to Saudi Arabia. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers captain joined Al Hilal last summer for €55m and has impressed at his new club.

The playmaker has four goals and six assists to his name in 28 games this season, which has helped his new club move to the top of the Saudi Pro League. As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Neves has admitted he was close to joining the Catalan club last summer and reveals that a move to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal also failed to materialise during the same transfer window.

He said: “Last summer I’ve been close to joining three European clubs, then it didn’t happen.

“Barcelona was something really concrete. It was very close.

“To be honest, it was the same for Arsenal deal; it was very advanced then collapsed.”

Since moving to Saudi, the Portuguese playmaker has been linked away with a move to Barca and also a return to the Premier League. However, at the moment Neves is enjoying his time at Al Hilal and has no plans to leave the Middle East in the immediate future.

Rajan Sangha | GSFN