Sports Mole takes a look at Sporting Lisbon wonderkid Geovany Quenda, who could move to Manchester United next summer.
Much of the post-match talk after Sporting Lisbon‘s 4-1 win over Manchester City on Tuesday evening was about Ruben Amorim, with the Portuguese preparing to take charge of Manchester United next week.
Amorim masterminded Sporting’s success over the Premier League champions, while Viktor Gyokeres – Europe’s most in-demand striker – also took plenty of the headlines, having come up with a hat trick against Pep Guardiola‘s side.
The performance of a certain Geovany Quenda went under the radar, but the outstanding 17-year-old was vital to Sporting’s win, putting in an eye-catching display as the right-sided wing-back in a 3-4-3 formation.
Quenda provided the assist for Gyokeres to make it 1-1, with the teenager delivering a wonderful pass into his teammate, who broke into the penalty box before lifting the ball over the onrushing Ederson.
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Quenda showed his potential in Sporting win over Man City
His calmness under pressure was a notable part of his performance against Guardiola’s team, with the youngster demonstrating his ability to control the ball in tight areas and almost always find the right pass.
To be able to play as a wing-back at the age of 17 is incredibly rare, and he has been converted into a more defensive player under Amorim, having initially come through as a right-sided attacker.
Quenda had a half-chance to score late on when he burst past Josko Gvardiol before firing towards goal, but his effort was just too high; not long after, he left the field to a standing ovation, with Sporting having a new superstar.
The Portuguese has made 17 appearances for Sporting this season, scoring twice and providing two assists, while he had an impressive record of nine goals and seven assists in 24 matches for Sporting Under-23s.
Quenda has a contract in Lisbon until June 2027, but there is a release clause of €100m (£83.5m), and it might well be that interested clubs need to pay that in order to sign him.
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Man United, Man City, Arsenal are all allegedly interested in Quenda
Man United allegedly had a scout in attendance to watch Quenda in action against Famalicao on October 26, and he scored in Sporting’s 3-0 win; the goal saw him become Sporting’s youngest-ever scorer in the league at the age of 17 years, five months and 27 days old and once again catapulted him into the attention of a number of major clubs.
Man City and Arsenal are also believed to be interested, but Amorim’s arrival at Man United could place the 20-time English champions at the head of the queue for his services.
Man United have famously signed Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani and Bruno Fernandes from Sporting, and more players from the Portuguese giants could soon move to Old Trafford due to the Amorim connection.
Diogo Dalot, as it stands, is the most likely player to feature as a right-sided wing-back for Man United under Amorim, should the club’s new head coach implement that system.
However, Quenda seemingly has the potential to become one of the best in the position in the coming years, and the Red Devils should make signing him a priority during next summer’s transfer window.
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