Man Utd, Man City target approached by two Bundesliga sides, with Ruben Amorim reunion at risk

Sporting CP wonderkid Geovany Quenda is a concrete target for Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool, but RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen are competing for his signature.

The 17-year-old winger played 85 minutes against Man City in the Champions League on Wednesday night, providing the assist for Viktor Gyokeres’ first goal.

Sporting CP went on to win the game 4-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Gyokeres and a goal from Maxi Araujo in Ruben Amorim’s last home fixture in charge of the Portuguese club before he becomes the new Man Utd manager.

As we exclusively revealed on Monday, Amorim is keen to reunite with Quenda at Old Trafford, but Man City have shown the most concrete interest in the forward from the Premier League so far.

Sources have informed TEAMtalk that Liverpool and Juventus are also keeping close tabs on Quenda’s progress ahead of a potential move in 2025. Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool and Juventus were all very impressed with his performance on Wednesday.

However, we can now confirm that in the last few days, Bundesliga giants Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig have made ‘concrete approaches’ to Quenda’s entourage.

The German clubs intend to scout Quenda closely over the next few weeks ahead of a potential move.

READ MORE: Five Man Utd players who could suffer from Ruben Amorim being appointed as next manager

Ruben Amorim: ‘Quenda is going to be a great player’

TEAMtalk understands that Sporting are determined to keep Quenda until at least the end of the season and in January a move is unlikely.

Next summer, everything could change if a mammoth bid is submitted for the teenager. He has a €100m (£84m / $104m) release clause in his contract and Sporting are prepared to sanction his sale if a bid close to that amount arrives.

Sources close to Quenda’s entourage have informed TEAMtalk that the winger doesn’t feel pressure, approaches every game calmly and has a lot of confidence in himself and his abilities. Quenda is also very focused and is ‘obsessed’ with winning. He knows how to read the game and realise when to play freely and when to work hard for the team.

Man City star Bernardo Silva has previously tipped Quenda to become a world-class player in the future.

“Quenda is probably going to steal my place [in the Portuguese national team],” Silva said. “He’s playing in a position that I can occupy on the pitch. At 17, I wasn’t even playing for Benfica’s youth team.”

Amorim, meanwhile, has also hailed Quenda as a top prospect, but has reminded people that he needs to be given time to develop.

“I’ve already said everything I have to say about Quenda. He’s a very talented kid, very physically robust, very focused, with his feet firmly on the ground. That’s very important for a young player.

“That’s what I said at the start of the season. He got his chance and there was no chance to take it away, no doubt, nothing. I think he’s going to be a great player, but let’s give it time.”

Man Utd round-up: Amorim talks Gyokeres to Man Utd / Zirkzee latest

Sporting goal machine Gyokeres has unsurprisingly been heavily linked with a transfer to Man Utd in the wake of Amorim’s appointment at Old Trafford.

The former Coventry City man has scored an incredible 66 goals in 67 appearances for Sporting, including his hat-trick against Man City on Wednesday.

The reports linking Gyokeres with a move to Man Utd are unlikely to go away, but Amorim has poured cold water on the possibility of him joining Man Utd in January – but doesn’t rule out a transfer next summer.

“If I start joking about this Gyokeres situation I’ll get in trouble,” Amorim said in a recent interview.

“This is my city, this is my country, so I’ll respect it. Viktor has to stay until the end of the season and then his life will probably go somewhere else.”

In other news, Man Utd striker Joshua Zirkzee has been linked with a shock return to Italy despite only joining Man Utd over the summer.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has deemed these links fake news, however.

“Joshua Zirkzee was very happy in Italy, Zirkzee did fantastic in Italy, but he strongly wanted to go to Manchester United,” declared Romano.

“Zirkzee decided to go to Man Utd, it was three months ago… so to think that Zirkzee is already planning to leave the club and try something different, this is something that Zirkzee is not doing. He is fully focused on Man Utd.”

PROFILE: Who is Geovany Quenda?

By Nathan Egerton.

Born in Guinea-Bissau in April 2007, Quenda moved to Portugal as a child and joined Amadora-based club Damaiense at the age of eight.

He also spent two years in Benfica’s academy before joining their arch-rivals Sporting CP in 2021.

In February 2024, he started a Liga 3 game against Amora and became the youngest-ever player to play for Sporting’s reserve team at the age of 16.

The left-footed right-winger showcased his pace and his dribbling ability and caught the attention of first-team manager Ruben Amorim.

“He can play in several positions, he has a lot of quality and irreverence. He is another option,” Amorim said after naming him on the bench for a Europa League tie against Atalanta in March 2024.

Quenda has also shone on the international stage as his performances for Portugal at the 2024 UEFA European Under-17 Championship earned him a place in the Team of the Tournament.

He marked his senior debut for Sporting with a goal against Porto in August 2024 and became the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history at the age of 17 years and 95 days, overtaking the likes of Ronaldo and Simao.

The teenager then became the youngest Portuguese player to start a Champions League match during Sporting’s 2-0 win over Lille in September 2024.

He has also been called up to the senior Portugal squad and was an unused substitute in their 2-1 win over Scotland in the UEFA Nations League.

“The national team coaches always say that age is not a factor. (Quenda) showed incredible personality, quality and adaptability,” Roberto Martinez said.

“He’s a player who likes to make things difficult (for defenders). He has technical quality (that is) not normal for a 17-year-old. He’s now in Sporting’s first team and has shown incredible personality.”

The forward – who can also play as a wing-back – has since made two appearances for Portugal’s Under-21s and registered an assist in a 2-1 win over Andorra.

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