- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United all sent scouts to watch one of the biggest games in European football this weekend.
HITC Football understands that some top English sides were in attendance as Bayer Leverkusen continued their dominance of the Bundesliga win a last-gasp win against RB Leipzig.
The Bundesliga has become one of the most popular leagues for Premier League sides to raid for top talent in recent years.
The likes of Erling Haaland, Dominik Szoboszlai and Micky van de Ven have all starred after heading to England.
Now, plenty of teams are keeping a close eye on the top teams in the league ahead of the summer transfer window.
Arsenal and Liverpool send scouts to huge Bundesliga tie
HITC Football sources have confirmed that Arsenal were watching a quartet of players at the weekend.
Playmaker Xavi Simons, forward Lois Openda, full-back Jeremie Frimpong and midfielder Exequiel Palacios were all on the Gunners’ radar.
Spurs have been linked with Openda while Simons scored a fantastic goal to open the scoring for the hosts Leipzig.
Liverpool scouts were in attendance alongside their Arsenal counterparts to watch Piero Hincapie.
The talented centre-back ended up being the match-winner for Leverkusen, scoring a 91st-minute winner.
Both Manchester clubs also watching closely
HITC Football understands the main reason Manchester City were in attendance on Saturday was to watch Florian Wirtz.
They’re huge fans of the young German although, like Arsenal, they were also monitoring Simons.
Cross-city rivals Manchester United, meanwhile, had several players on their radar including exciting forward Benjamin Sesko.
He started the game for Leipzig alongside Frimpong who is another player the Red Devils are regularly checking in on.
Erik ten Hag’s side are experiencing plenty of changes at the top of the club that could boost their hopes of securing key transfer targets in the summer.
Leverkusen success could lead to summer exodus
Alongside the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool sending their scouts to watch two of the best teams in Germany, West Ham were also in attendance.
They were watching Leverkusen pair Jonathan Tah and Adam Hlozek among others as they look to continue their run of playing in Europe next season.
HITC also understands that European giants PSG, Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli were at the game alongside representatives from the Saudi Pro League.
Xabi Alonso will know he’s got an unbelievable opportunity to topple Bayern Munich at the top of the league this season.
If they can do so, then the Spaniard will want to hold onto as many of his players as possible.
Unfortunately, the pulling power of the Premier League and the vast fortunes available to those clubs mean they might struggle to keep hold of their star men.
All they can hope is that a few bidding wars will begin and they can raise as much money as possible to replace anyone that moves on.
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