Benfica beat Estoril 1-0 on Saturday and it will be no huge surprise to regular Sport Witness readers that Sheffield Wednesday and Celtic both had officials watch the match. Both clubs were on the official scouting lists in both O Jogo and A Bola newspapers.
Sheffield Wednesday have been following Portuguese football since Carlos Carvalhal took over as the club’s manager, and they’re probably the team from the Championship which watches the most matches in the country.
Both Sheffield Wednesday and Celtic repeatedly watch Benfica. Given the away match at Estoril was also in the Lisbon area, it made sense to attend. Of course, it’s ambitious for both clubs to be watching Benfica.
Celtic have been linked with Victor Lindelof in the past but he’s now likely out of their price range. Even Benfica youngsters coming through are priced highly by the club so it’s likely a fringe player the clubs would be keen on, with them having to repeatedly attend to try and catch a substitute appearance.
Will a Portugal based player be arriving at Celtic Park or Hillsborough over the next couple of windows? Judging by the scouting records of both clubs it’s got to be a distinct possibility.
