There's something almost eerie about the fact that Ruben Neves is, somehow, just 23 years of age. After making his debut for Porto in the Primeira Liga over five and a half years ago now, he has already played an incredible 218 senior matches at the highest level with both Porto and Wolves combined.
A career which already rivals some highly talented, highly accomplished footballers - and that's not including the 85+ caps he's already amassed for the national team at various levels from Portugal U15s to the senior side. And the fact of the matter is, his best is still to come.
Neves is one of those generational talents. ‘Generational’ is an overused term, floated about to seemingly describe any above average young footballer. Neves, however, is deserving of that tag, and we've known it for some time now. It is no coincidence that Neves burst onto the scene when just 17 years of age, or that he became the youngest player in history to captain his club in the UEFA Champions League when he led out Porto versus Maccabi Tel Aviv four and a half years ago now, when aged just 18.
That in itself is an extroardinary achievement that tells you not only about the quality of the footballer, but the quality of the person too. Mature beyond his years, a tremendous professional, a natural leader. Neves is, essentially, the perfect footballer, with the attitude matching his undoubted ability.
His attributes are well-recomgised across the globe, too. Typically operating as a deep lying playmaker, Neves offers solid defensive cover to protect the backline, as he so often does for Portugal nowadays, but what sets him apart from others who play in a similar role is his passing range and sublime technique.
Neves has an elegance on the football pitch like few others. His exquisite vision to spray the ball across the pitch and pull all the strings from deep is poetry on the football pitch. It's a style many attempt, but very few can master. Neves, however, is leading the way when it comes to defensive midfield playmakers, and he's destined for the top, be it with Wolves or elsewhere.
You're hard-pushed to find any midfielder with better technique than Ruben Neves, too. His football is classy and his passing is exquisite, but it is long-range shooting which picks up all the headlines.
There are few, if any, footballers better at shooting from distance, which is again testament to his composure, confidence and genuine footballing talent. It’s a blessing that he's still just 23 years of age, as there's still so much more Ruben Neves on the football pitch to enjoy.
Is he world class? I am not convinced that there is a deep lying playmaker that is as accomplished at both passing and shooting as Neves anywhere in the world. And if there is, there's not many of them. There are far superior defensive midfielders in the game, but a better hybrid of a defensive-minded midfielder and a midfield playmaker? Neves is one of the very best in the world at what he does and, for that, he can be considered a world class talent.