João Pedro Gonçalves Neves (; born 27 September 2004) is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and the Portugal national team. Coming through Benfica's youth system, Neves impressed during his time with the reserve side, winning the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

in 2021–22, being instrumental part of Benfica's first European trophy in 60 years. He was subsequently promoted to the first-team, making his professional debut at age 18, where he helped Benfica win the league title in his first season with the side. In August 2024, Neves joined Paris Saint-Germain for a transfer fee of €60 million, being a prominent player as they attained a

continental treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A continental treble involves winning the club's top-level domestic league competition, main domestic cup competition, and main continental tro ...

, including their first-ever

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

title, in his debut season. Neves is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various levels. He made his senior international debut in 2023, representing Portugal at the

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. He also won the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Tavira Tavira (), officially the City of Tavira (), is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the riv ...

, Neves began his youth career with hometown club Casa Benfica Tavira, one of Benfica's feeder clubs, he then spent four seasons in Benfica's development centre in Algarve, before moving to Benfica's main academy in 2016. Neves signed his first professional contract with Benfica in December 2020.

Benfica

2022–23: Early career and first-team breakthrough

Neves was a part of the Benfica U19 team which topped their

2021–22 UEFA Youth League The 2021–22 UEFA Youth League was the eighth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. Real Madrid, having won the title in 2019–20, were the title holders, since the 2020–21 edition w ...

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, and eventually won the tournament. He made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 1–1 LigaPro draw to Académico de Viseu on 6 August 2022. On 24 August, Neves started in Benfica's 1–0 against

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

at the

2022 Under-20 Intercontinental Cup The 2022 Under-20 Intercontinental Cup () was the inaugural edition of the UEFA–CONMEBOL Under-20 Intercontinental Cup, a football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA between the winners of the U-20 Copa Libertadores and UEFA Youth League. CON ...

. During the league break to facilitate the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, he made his unofficial debut for Benfica's first team on 11 December 2022, in a closed-doors friendly against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. During this time, Benfica's first team manager Roger Schmidt invited him to participate in several first-team training sessions, impressing him with his ability, dedication and maturity on the ball. On December 21, Neves signed a contract extension with Benfica until 2028. He made his debut for the senior team on the first day of 2023, coming on late as a substitute in the 3–0 defeat to

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

. On 7 March, Neves made his

debut, replacing João Mário in the 74th minute and providing an assist on Benfica's fifth goal, in their 5–1 home win against

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

in the second leg of the Champions League round-of-16. In the final months of the season, following the departure of

Enzo Fernández Enzo Jeremías Fernández (born 17 January 2001) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea and the Argentina national team. Primarily a central midfielder, he is also capable of playing as a defensive ...

, Neves eventually earned a place in the starting eleven over

Florentino Luís Florentino Ibrain Morris Luís (born 19 August 1999), known as Florentino (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Born in Angola, he has represented Portugal at youth level. ...

, most notably scoring his first goal for the club on 21 May against crosstown rivals

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in the ''

Lisbon derby The Derby de Lisboa or Dérbi de Lisboa (English: Lisbon derby) is the biggest List of association football club rivalries in Europe#Portugal, football derby match in Portugal. It is played between Lisbon-based clubs S.L. Benfica, Benfica and Spo ...

'', securing his side a draw after they were down by two goals at half-time. He would make 17 league appearances for Benfica as they sealed their first league title in four years, following a 3–0 home win over Santa Clara, on the final day of the league campaign.

2023–24: Primeira Liga Team of Year and departure

Neves started the 2023–24 season, on 9 August, being named man of the match in the 2–0 victory over

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

. On 12 November, Neves scored the 94th minute equalizer in an eventual 2–1 league victory over rivals Sporting CP, at the

Estádio da Luz The Estádio da Luz (), officially named Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Lisbon, Portugal. It is used mostly for association football matches, hosting the home games of Portuguese club S.L. Benfica, Ben ...

; while also receiving the

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award. Over the following months, Neves established himself as one of the best midfielders in Portugal, being voted as the Primeira Liga's Midfielder of the Month between the months September and December, a feat which he repeated in February and March 2024, with only Braga's Rodrigo Zalazar winning it in January. At the end of the season, despite Benfica finishing as runners-up in the league, Neves was named in the

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

. In July 2024, it was reported that

club

(PSG) had made an initial bid for Neves of €70 million (£59 million). Their offer was reportedly rejected and negotiations continued, with Benfica being adamant that he would not be sold for less than his €120 million release clause, despite PSG agreeing personal terms with Neves. Shortly after, Benfica's President

Rui Costa Rui Manuel César Costa (; born 29 March 1972) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who is the 34th president of sports club S.L. Benfica. He also succeeded Luís Filipe Vieira as president of the club's SAD board of directors. ...

denied that he "would only leave for his release clause and therefore, those claims were false", but confirmed the club had received a bid for him, with negotiations between them and a club still proceeding. On 2 August, Rui Costa confirmed Neves' departure to Paris Saint-Germain, stating that he could not refuse a €70 million offer for him, leading Benfica to confirm his transfer three days later.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 5 August 2024, Neves signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain, for a €59.9 million fee plus €10 million in potential add-ons, and

Renato Sanches Renato Júnior Luz Sanches (; born 18 August 1997) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club S.L. Benfica, Benfica, on loan from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris ...

moving in the other direction on a loan deal. On 16 August, Neves made his official debut in a 4–1 win over

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, coming on as a substitute and assisting

Ousmane Dembélé Masour Ousmane Dembélé (; born 15 May 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for ...

and

Bradley Barcola Bradley Jean-Manuel Essolisam Addo Barcola (born 2 September 2002) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. After coming up through Lyon's academy, Barcola ...

's goals. On 23 August, he again provided two assists, one each for Barcola and

Marco Asensio Marco Asensio Willemsen (; born 21 January 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national team. After starting his career with Mallorca, Asensio si ...

, in a 6–0 victory over

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. In the process, he set the record for the most assists (four) in his first two Ligue 1 matches, surpassing

Neymar Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (; born 5 February 1992), also known as Neymar Júnior or simply Neymar, is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left winger, attacking midfielder or Forward (association foo ...

's previous record of three assists. On 27 October, Neves scored his first goal for the club, netting the opening goal in a 3–0 win at away over

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional Association football, football clubs Paris Saint-Germain FC, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de Marseille (OM). The duo are the two Football records and statistics i ...

rivals

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. On 22 January 2025, Neves was elected the player of the match in a 4–2 Champions League victory over

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. He won seven out of seven tackles, completed 51 out of 61 passes, and registered seven shots, eventually scoring the goal that completed PSG's comeback and put them up 3–2. Having helped PSG secure their 13th Ligue 1 title, he was one of the nominees for the

Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year The UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year is an official award given by the Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP) to a player aged 23 years or under at the start of the season whose performances are considered to be the best i ...

, finishing as runner-up and was included in the Ligue 1 Team of the Season, while also helping the club secure their first ever Champions League title and completing a

International career

Neves represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at under-15 and under-19, for a total of 21

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

. In June 2023, Neves took part in the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) was the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association f ...

, scoring his first goal on 27 June in a 2–1 against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Portugal were eliminated from the tournament, on 2 July, after a 1–0 loss to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the quarter-finals. On 6 October 2023, Neves was called up to the Portuguese team for the first time for

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that would join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Eur ...

matches against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He debuted the same year on 16 October, coming off the bench to replace Otávio in the 85th minute of a 5–0 away victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 21 May 2024, Neves was selected in the 26-man squad for the

. With Portugal having secured qualification from their group, he debuted in the competition as a starter in a 2–0 loss against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Neves did not appear in the knockout stage as they were eliminated from the tournament in the quarter-finals after losing to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

5–3 in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. On 20 May 2025, Neves was selected for Portugal’s

2025 UEFA Nations League Finals The 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, 2024–25 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the fourth season of the international Association football, football competition involving the men ...

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

. Desployed as a right-back, he and his team would go on to win the tournament 5–3 in a penalty shootout over rivals

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Style of play

A footballer praised for his mature, highly developed mental attributes on the field since a young age, Neves is a quick, agile and technically gifted central midfielder, with notable passing and tackling skills, quick reactions, and close ball control. He is also known for his stamina, bravery and composure on the ball, as well as for his balance and the ability to retain possession in tight spaces when under pressure. In addition, despite his relatively slight frame, he ranks high on the percentile for aerial battles won. Neves played as a

deep-lying playmaker In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Benfica, typically in a double pivot within a

4–2–3–1 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

formation, controlling possession by frequently dropping deep to receive the ball. His quick acceleration over short distances allows him to create space from his marker without needing deceptive moves. He is versatile, able to position himself between central defenders or a defender and full-back to create numerical advantages. His main strength is evading pressure using his agility and low center of gravity to spin away and accelerate into space. Neves also excels at counter-pressing, quickly engaging opponents to limit their time and space when possession is lost.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Benfica B *

Campeonato Nacional de Juniores The Campeonato Nacional de Juniores is the top level of the Portuguese football league system for youth players (19-year-old and under). It is administrated by the Portuguese Football Federation. The league started in 1938 and has been historical ...

: 2021–22 *

Under-20 Intercontinental Cup The Under-20 Intercontinental Cup (, ) is an annual one-off football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by the winners of the South American and European youth club competitions, the U-20 Copa Libertadores and UEFA Youth League, ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Benfica *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2024–25 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2024–25 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

: 2024–25 Portugal *

: 2024–25 Individual *

Cosme Damião Cosme Damião (2 November 1885 – 12 June 1947) was a Portuguese football player-coach for S.L. Benfica. A former midfielder, he is remembered as the main force behind the birth of Benfica and one of the first great Portuguese football players ...

Awards – Revelation of the Year: 2024 *

SJPF Young Player of the Month The SJPF Young Player of the Month (often called Portuguese League Young Player of the Month) is an association football award that recognizes the best Portuguese League young player each month of the season and is conceived by the SJPF (syndicat ...

: October/November 2023, February 2024 *Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2023–24 * UNFP Ligue 1

: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the S.L. Benfica website (archived 7 March 2023)
Profile
at the Paris Saint-Germain F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neves, Joao 2004 births Living people People from Tavira Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Faro District S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Paris Saint-Germain FC players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players Ligue 1 players UEFA Euro 2024 players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Men's association football midfielders UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Nations League–winning players