January may be two months off, but that doesn’t mean clubs up and down the Premier League aren’t planning for it already.
They will have scouts watching players across the world, drawing up shortlists and lining up their ducks as they eye to add to their squads.
Burnley, while not as financially powerful as others, are no different. As a result, it is no surprise to discover they had scouts in Portugal this week.
That’s according to A Bola, who say the Clarets were one of several Premier League sides to watch Benfica’s 2-1 win over Lyon in the Champions League.
It doesn’t mention who Burnley may have been there to scout, but the likelihood is that they were there to see if anyone caught their eye.
If that was the case, then Sean Dyche’s emissary may have left disappointed as it was not exactly a game of shining performances, at least if Record and O Jogo’s player ratings are anything to go by.
Most players in the games received average reviews from the newspapers, so three out of five or five out of ten. In truth, Record didn’t rate anyone higher than three.
O Jogo were a little more generous, with left-back Álex Grimaldo getting a seven and several others, such as Franco Cervi, Maxwel Cornet and Léo Dubois, all getting sixes.
