Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton and Watford have all sent scouts to the Champions League match between Benfica and PAOK last night.
As reported by newspaper Record, this was the ‘English army’ spying at the Estádio da Luz, joined by officials from Man United, who watch every single game at the Lisbon ground.
As the season has barely started and the Premier League transfer window is closed, the newspaper doesn’t name any potential targets for Chris Hughton, Mark Hughes and Javi Gracia.
So we can only list the players who impressed in this 1-1 draw, which ended up being a little bit disappointing for the home side.
Newspaper O Jogo called Benfica a ‘one man army’. That’s because Pizzi carried the team on his own, defending, creating chances and finishing. His midfielder partner Gedson, who has recently made his debut for the club, was praised a lot as well.
Local outlets gave PAOK players a better rating than Benfica’s, and that’s pretty rare when it’s not the away side who win the match. Among the many complliments, goalkeeper Alexandros Paschalakis and winger Amr Warda are those who stood out.
It’ll be interesting to see who will be linked to the Hornets, the Saints and the Seagulls in the coming months, as this could be an early indicator of who the Premier League trio might target in January.
Benfica and PAOK now play the second leg in Greece next Wednesday.
