Born in a small town of Benavente, Portugal, 19-year old Goncalo Guedes has been widely tipped to be the next player making a big money move to an Elite club of Europe. Having joined the youth academy of Benfica, the player made an impression from the very beginning and rapidly progressed through the ranks of the club. In 2014, Guedes made his professional debut with the Benfica B side.
After a stint of six months in the Segunda division with the B-side, the 19-year old was promoted to the first team in October of the same year to play in the third round of taca de Portugal. In 2015, Guedes made his Primeira Liga debut and his displays earned him the title of the Segunda Division’s Breakthrough Player of the Year in 2014/15.
The good performance in the domestic league resulted in the player being called up to the national team by manager Fernando Santos on November 2015 where he made his debut against Russia as an 18-year old.
The most exciting thing about the winger do belong to the same group of stereotype of being a fantastic dribbler, having pace, excellent crossing along with some very other interesting things which has allowed him to excel in a position other than the wings this season.
The passing ability to the player is excellent and he has a powerful to shot to go with it. During his spell in the Segunda division, Guedes was the king of assists. He provided 14 assists in 32 games for Benfica B and scored 8 goals on top of that. Last season, he scored a total of 4 goals in 36 games which included a wonderful strike in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid.
While Guedes stood out on the pitch with his understanding of the game and by virtue of his exceptional ability to keep possession under pressure, he has improved a lot this season with his consistency as well. According to
While Guedes stood out on the pitch with his understanding of the game and by virtue of his exceptional ability to keep possession under pressure, he has improved a lot this season with his consistency as well.
According to reports, Manchester United, Juventus, Valencia, Osasuna and Middlesbrough are some of the clubs who have sent scouts to watch the player in action while Arsenal and Chelsea have made enquiries about the availability of the teenager.
Having Jorge Mendes as his agent, one can easily imagine it would require some serious financial muscle to pull off a deal for the Portuguese whizkid and Manchester United is the club which seems to be on the forefront in the battle for the player.
Guedes is dubbed as the new ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ in his homeland and United might well be tempted to get their hands on Benfica man so that they can have another shot of enjoying the consequences of a super talent when he matures.
The one who was tipped to be better than Cristiano Ronaldo was Memphis Depay and that didn’t go as planned, it would be interesting to see what happens with the ‘new one’ if the Red Devils do find themselves signing up yet another player of the famous/notorious agent Jorge Mendes.
