Quenda, 17, has been likened to the Arsenal star (Picture: Getty)
Manchester United target Geovany Quenda has been compared to Arsenal star Bukayo Saka with his former youth coach labelling him the one of the best of his generation alongside Lamine Yamal.
Quenda was given his Sporting Lisbon debut at the tender age of 17 by Ruben Amorim, now the new man in charge at Manchester United.
While Amorim has ruled out January moves for his former players, United have been intensely linked with Sporting’s best talent since the manager’s arrival in Manchester with the prolific Viktor Gyokeres possibly a target next summer.
United are also among the sides monitoring Quenda with reports in Portugal suggesting preliminary talks over a move have already taken place with United ready to offer £50million for his services.
Amorim has predicted Quenda will have a ‘spectacular future’, fitting the manager’s 3-4-3 formation like a glove in an advanced wing-back role on the right this season in Portugal.
While naturally a winger, the teenager’s determination and work rate has been singled out as two of his best assets by Sporting youth coach Fabio Roque. When asked which current star he shared most similarities with, Roque named Saka as the most accurate comparison.
‘He is so committed in defensive moments and defensive duels,’ Roque told Sky Sports’ Next Up. ‘He plays so well there because the space that he covers on the field is huge.
The 17-year-old was given his debut by Amorim (Picture: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
‘Geo is so demanding with himself in the defensive moments. To close, to recover fast, to win the defensive duels for his team-mates. It reminds me of Bukayo Saka in the beginning of his career when he played as a full-back.’
Quenda rated among the best of his generation alongside Yamal (Picture: Shutterstoc)
After a spell in the Benfica academy, Quenda arrived at Sporting in 2019 and has long been backed for greatness by coaches at the club. Roque believes the youngster deserves to be mentioned alongside Barcelona and Spain sensation Yamal, along with Chelsea-bound Estevao Willian, when discussing the best talents of their age group.
‘I understand the comparison, but Geo covers so much more space,’ says Roque of the Yamal comparisons.
‘There is only one Geovany Quenda. He is different from any other player I trained. He can create a mark on football that is totally different.
‘We are talking about, with Lamine Yamal and Estevao Willian [set to join Chelsea in the summer of 2025], probably the best players in that generation born in 2007.’