Ruben Neves: What can Wolves expect from Portugal’s £15.8m ‘new Paul Scholes’ who makes bizarre move to Championship?

RUBEN NEVES has been dubbed the new Paul Scholes, although the Manchester United hero never made an appearance in the Championship.

But the Portuguese midfielder who was tracked by Liverpool has opted for a stunning move to Wolves.

So who is the Portuguese star? We asked our friends at Football Whispers to run the rule over the 20-year-old.

Who is Ruben Neves and where does he come from?

Born in Mozelos in the Aveiro District of Portugal, Neves was earmarked from a young age as a player with potential and joined Porto’s youth set-up as an eight-year-old.

He was loaned to local club Padroense for the 2012/13 season and returned to the Dragons the following season, impressing for the Under-17 side.

Neves’ star continued to rise as he played a key role for Portugal at the 2014 Under-17 European Championships in Malta.

Skipper of the side, Neves scored twice in seven appearances as Portugal were beaten in the semi-finals by eventual winners England with his performances earning a place in the Team of the Tournament.

Success on the international stage proved the start of a breakthrough campaign for the deep-lying midfielder.

Neves was called up to Julen Lopetegui's first-team squad after injury to Mikel Agu and the sale of Fernando to Manchester City.

And he impressed the current Spain boss enough to remain with the main group for the start of the campaign.

In fact, Neves did so well he was handed a start against Maritimo on the opening weekend of the season.

As if that wasn’t memorable enough, he scored after just 11 minutes to become the youngest scorer in the club’s history, aged 17 and five months, eclipsing Porto legend Fernando Gomes.

"It was a dream debut, not only for my performance and goal but also for the win, which was the most important thing,” Neves said afterwards.

"He's prepared and he showed it,” Lopetegui added. “It is very good for him, having scored on his debut. He played very well. I am very, very relaxed about Ruben because he himself is calm."

Another record tumbled soon after when Neves played 73 minutes of Porto’s Champions League play-off round win over Lille, becoming the youngest Portuguese to feature in the competition.

Unsurprisingly, Neves’ performances drew admiring glances from across Europe with his passing, vision and positioning particularly impressive. Comparisons with United legend Scholes, and Barcelona pivote Sergio Busquets, followed.

In October 2015 Neves secured another piece of Champions League history. By leading Porto out in a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv he became the youngest player to start as captain in Europe’s premier club competition.

And a month later he earned his first call-up to the full Portugal squad, playing 17 minutes in a 1-0 friendly loss against Russia before making his first start against Luxembourg a few days later.

He ended the season by helping Portugal finish runners-up at the 2015 Under-21 European Championships, scoring once in three games as a Selecao lost to Sweden on penalties.

How much will he cost?

Despite finding himself down the pecking order at Porto this season, Neves began the summer with a £35million price tag on his head.

But where Liverpool failed to prize the midfielder away, Wolves made the breakthrough with a £17.5m deal.

The West Midlands club are managed by former Dragons boss Nuno Espirito Santo.

And it appears the the Portuguese manager's relationship with his former club may prove the catalyst for a stunning transfer.