Manchester City fear Manchester United will attempt to hijack their pursuit of Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, according to Goal.
The football outlet claim that Man City are hoping Wolves will be more open to parting with their 21-year-old in January even if the Midlands side are likely to hold out for a deal worth at least £60million.
Goal report that City officials are close to the talks believe Jose Mourinho has become annoyed with his agent Jorge Mendes’ due to his potential involvement in the deal and that Pep Guardiola’s side now fear Man United spoiling their plans.
OPINION
Wolves might not even be willing to negotiate selling Neves in January so it’s funny that Man City and Man United are worried about each other’s interest in the midfielder. The 21-year-old has made an instant impact in the Premier League with Wolves this season after impressing in his first three outings in the division. Neves shows no signs of being unhappy at the club and could easily fulfil his ambitions with them as they clearly have big-plans to take the Premier League by storm. Wolves are unlikely to be forced to sell the midfielder even though he could see them earn £60 million from his sale. While Goal claim that Guardiola has identified Neves as the type of player he needs to add to his midfield that doesn’t mean he’ll be successful with his pursuit. Man City have missed out on plenty of targets before and it would be no surprise if Neves opted to stay at Wolves at least beyond January. Also it’s no surprise that Mourinho has found something to be annoyed about as the Man United manager has looked miserable ever since the 2018/19 season got underway.