Portugal will play their first group-stage match against the Czech Republic today, and Ruben Neves will probably start in the midfield. Recently, Neves moved from England to Saudi Arabia, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo. Now playing for the Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal, he decided to head back to Europe to play for Portugal in the Euros.
When Ruben Neves moved to Saudi Arabia, he took his family to the kingdom. It must not have been straightforward, as he had to relocate with his partner and children. So let’s look at all the family members who supported the football player enough to change their country and explore his lavish lifestyle.
What you need to know about Ruben Neves’ family
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Ruben Neves has been dating Debora Lourenco since 2014 and proposed to her in May 2018. The engagement announcement was made public via Ruben Neves’ Twitter handle as the couple celebrated on a boat with champagne. Having a four-year relationship came with the blessing of three beautiful children. Although the footballer has yet to marry his fiancee, there was a rumor that the two got married in 2019. While this has yet to be confirmed by the couple, Lourenco has moved with Neves to Saudi Arabia.
She said yes 😍👑💍 pic.twitter.com/KcxcS5s58S
— Ruben Neves (@rubendsneves_) May 10, 2018
Together they have two sons and one daughter, with the daughter Margarida, born on August 6, 2017, being the eldest. The couple announced their first son Martin, born on April 13, 2019. Two years later, Mateo joined the family in January 2021 as Neves is often found posting pictures of his family.
Significantly, his family is often found at the stadiums to support the Portuguese player. Lourenco has gathered a strong following of fans of her own, as she often shares pictures of her family watching the game. Besides watching her husband play for the country or a league, she enjoys traveling, and the whole family visits many sightseeing spots around Saudi Arabia.
The young ones get the best of it as they are exposed to a new culture while being children of royal treatment by the hosts of the star couple. But not everything came easy as moving countries is not an easy job and there were difficult times in Neves’ life due to it, especially with Covid-19 being such an issue.
Ruben Neves missed out on the birth of his youngest child
While Neves was there with the mother of his children while she gave birth to their first two children, Mateo came at a difficult time. During the pandemic, Lourenco was expecting the child and although Neves wanted to be there, he couldn’t. As the Portuguese player explained while talking to MailOnline, he watched the birth on his phone.
Neves wanted to be there in person to see his child being born, however, when he tried to get back to Portugal, he had to be quarantined due to Covid. This led to him missing the birth of his child. However, he told MailOnline that the experience was “a bit different but it was really special.”
Thanking technology for making sure he didn’t miss the moment he continued, “Fortunately we have all the modern technology so we can still be close to each other in these moments. It was unusual but at the same time it’s the best moment of our lives, as everyone who is a father knows.”
Neves is in his prime years of football, and Saudi Arabia did not miss a chance to bring in a player of that stature. So this might make you wonder, how much Al-Hilal paid him to transfer to the Middle East.
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The cost of hiring a Portuguese star to relocate
When Neves was in Portugal, he was the captain of the English club Wolverhampton Wanderers. When Al-Hilal wanted to bring him in, they had to put forward a hefty $59 million to make him make the transfer and it has been a great deal for them so far.
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Along with the transfer fee, they all now live in the Kingdom, as the people treat them as their own. Moving a player from Portugal is no easy task, as we have seen when Ronaldo was called in. But this is all in the interest of promoting football in Saudi Arabia. So now that you know everything about Neves’s family, do you think they will be there to cheer him on for the Euros? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.