"In a Ligue 1 fixture on a baking hot August evening in Toulouse, the referee awarded four penalties, PSG won 6-3, yet the headlines belonged to Joao Neves, whose 50.71m move from Benfica to Paris Saint-Germain in the 2024/25 summer window makes him one of the top 100 most expensive players of all time, largely for what he did in the first 15 minutes."
"That's what happens when a central midfielder scores two overhead kicks in quick succession. The pint-sized Portuguese even had the taste for a third, rifling the ball top bins and wheeling away with three fingers raised to the fans: a little bit of Luis Figo circa Euro 2000, with a touch of Jose Mourinho at his most dastardly. Hat-tricks happen, but this was one of the most sublime in recent memory. Take a bow, Joao."
Paris Saint-Germain enjoyed a magical 2025 season with standout moments and relaunches of players such as Ousmane Dembele. Joao Neves arrived from Benfica for 50.71m and produced an astonishing display in Toulouse, where PSG won 6-3 amid four penalties; Neves scored two overhead kicks within the first 15 minutes and struck a third attempt, celebrating like Luis Figo with a Mourinho-esque edge, completing one of the most sublime hat-tricks. Declan Rice emerged unexpectedly as a free-kick specialist for Arsenal, performing faultlessly across both Champions League quarter-final legs versus Real Madrid and scoring two decisive second-half free-kicks.
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