Scouts from Aston Villa, Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion watched Benfica take on Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night.
As seen on the Twitter account of Portuguese football expert Tom Kundert, a host of British clubs sent scouts to watch Benfica in action against Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday night.
The Champions League returned on Tuesday after a two-week absence, and whilst many were focusing on Manchester City’s tie with Barcelona, scouts seemingly felt that Benfica against Dynamo Kiev was the game worth watching.
Benfica’s Estadio da Luz
Portuguese giants Benfica were looking to grab a win to boost their hopes of progression to the knockout stages, and got just what they wanted as Eduardo Salvio’s goal before half time proved to be the winner.
Rui Vitoria’s men rode their luck a little as Junior Moraes missed a penalty for Dynamo Kiev, and Benfica have now assured that they will at least drop into the Europa League with Tuesday’s win.
Benfica’s Eduardo Salvio celebrates scoring against Dynamo Kiev
Intriguingly, a host of British clubs were at the Estadio Da Luz on scouting missions, including Aston Villa, Celtic, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, as well as Chelsea and Middlesbrough, according to the official list of scouts posted on Twitter by Portuguese football expert Tom Kundert.
Benfica stars like Victor Lindelof, Alex Grimaldo, Salvio and Kostas Mitroglou may generate major interest, but they would appear to be well outside the budgets of Aston Villa, Celtic and Newcastle.
There’s no doubting who Dynamo Kiev’s star man is, but Andriy Yarmolenko wasn’t in action as he missed out with a knee injury.
Benfica’s Victor Lindelof in action against Dynamo Kiev
A player recently linked with Sunderland by The Mirror, defender Domagoj Vida played the full 90 minutes against Benfica, and may have been the player watched by the Black Cats as they look for defensive reinforcements.
Paraguayan attacker Delis Gonzalez is another highly-rated player that could be a target for clubs in the January transfer window, and with a host of scouts in attendance on Tuesday, both Benfica and Dynamo Kiev could receive bids for their players in the new year.
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