When Ronald Koeman was manager of Southampton the club increased their scouting in Portugal, with the Dutchman familar with the country having managed Benfica. That ended up with the successful purchase of Cedric Soares from Sporting, and Everton look to be following the same route.
This season Everton have repeatedly had scouts attend matches in Portugal, and over the weekend they attended more matches. Over several A Bola match reports it’s been revealed Everton had someone attend Benfica’s 2-0 victory over Chaves, Sporting’s 2-0 victory over Estoril and Vitoria Setubal’s 1-1 draw with SC Braga.
There’s no claims over who Everton have been specifically watching, and right now it appears to be general looking for targets, with Portugal’s bigger clubs being watched by spies from Goodison Park.
Everton are probably only second to Manchester United in their scouting of Portuguese matches at the moment, with Jose Mourinho’s club seemingly having someone at almost every top division match.
