According to Portuguese outlet, Record, Hugo Viana has been in London in recent days.
Viana is, of course, the Director of Football at Sporting and their players are the centre of attention at the moment as the transfer market clicks into gear.
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly in talks over moves for both Pedro Porro and Marcus Edwards, and while it may be expected that Viana was in London to discuss those deals, Record are actually reporting that he has met with Arsenal’s Edu Gaspar.
Edu heads up Arsenal’s recruitment department, and we have to wonder whether or not these two have been discussing any potential transfers here.
Arsenal have been linked with Sporting’s Pedro Goncalves in the past, so perhaps that interest is being reignited, but we can’t say for sure what the case is.
It is also worth noting that Cedric Soares is reportedly on the market. The right-back started his career with Sporting and a return to Portugal could have been one of the discussion points between Edu and Viana here.
Of course, this could also have been nothing more than a friendly meeting. Edu and Viana are actually friends from their time together as teammates at Valencia in the mid-2000s, so perhaps they were just catching up.
Saying that, to have a meeting in London with your friend who lives in Portugal who also happens to be a Sporting Director right at the beginning of the transfer window doesn’t exactly look like an innocent meeting between two former colleagues.
It remains to be seen if there is any business to be done between Arsenal and Sporting this month, but this is certainly a situation to keep an eye on after Edu and Viana had a meeting in London.
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