And it’s only going to happen if you can locate someone with that full profile, someone skilled enough to fit into a top side and carry on playing with eyeballs on every side of their head.
Since Michael Carrick’s retirement, Manchester United seemed to have spent every summer trying to buy a player of that caliber for the midfield, yet every transfer window, they always end up back where they started, although with much less money.
Any midfielder who is connected to the team is enough to make that poor player shudder. In football parlance, it’s a location where most go to rust away and die.
If United wants to formally express their interest, Joao Neves might be the one to break the curse.
The 19-year-old Portuguese midfielder is making waves, shattering hearts, and having fun while ping-ponging balls, all while sporting a shirt that is tucked in and screams future star.
We use the word “future” loosely because Neves is playing as if he has already arrived. It seems more and more like Portugal is about to make a significant move.
While the 19-year-old is playing for Benfica, his stocky, short build and deceptive recovery pace are what stand out about him.
Possessing the determination of a prime Neil Warnock on a Saturday afternoon, Neves blends a pitbull-esque demeanor with a shine that is uncommon in others. The player who takes a combative midfielder and makes them extremely pricey and desirable.
The tucked shirt appears to be exerting a lot of force at first glance. But if you look closer, you’ll notice that it’s not all a front; Neves can make a magnificent pass for every bold tackle he makes.
In today’s game, it almost seems too wonderful to be true that he can balance technical mastery and merciless aggression, but that is precisely what has made him such a valuable asset to Benfica at such a young age.
Observing him and considering United’s midfield, it’s easy to see why they’re eager to get in front of the line for his services.
Joshua Kimmich, Sergio Busquets and a tiny bit of Paul Scholes all rolled into one – purely in terms of profile and potential of course.
Even if that is just a way to profile how Neves plays his football, that’s one hell of a set of characteristics.
It’s no wonder that his international colleague Bruno Fernandes is desperate for him to come to Old Trafford.
He told Portuguese outlet Sport TV: “I would love to have him at United, he has top quality! But it’s João choice…
“He’s great player,” He exclaimed, adding: “He will have a great future, in United or somewhere else.”
Hard to dispute it, especially coming from a man who sees him up close and is the one receiving the ball off him in midfield. Neves is a serious gem and a bit of a freak in terms of his array of abilities.
Not all midfielders have to be physically imposing giants. The teenager is a boundless energy source constantly hacking players down and snuffing the ball away from their feet, the perfect fuel to send people into the dressing room raging with fury or into the stands in heaps of pain.
And when he’s not doing that, he’s ticking all the boxes for a modern-day creator – sitting in the gaps and spraying perfectly weighted passes that make you go ‘ooooo’.
Whoever lands Neves has one of football’s top prospects. United need to absolutely make sure it’s them to finally fix their midfield woes for good.