Among the many clubs who sent scouts to the Champions League clash between Benfica and Barcelona on Wednesday, there was Crystal Palace.
According to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, the Selhurst Park side had an official at the game, which ended up with a surprising 3-0 win for the Lisbon side.
The outlet doesn’t seem to know who Crystal Palace were watching, and as always, it’s a difficult job to guess who may have drawn attention from the scouts, especially with Benfica’s brilliant performance.
The likes of Nicolas Otamendi, Julian Weigl, João Mário, Rafa Silva and especially Darwin Nunez all did a great job in the win.
But it turns out that one of the players who had their performances highlighted by the local media has been linked to Crystal Palace in the past. That’s Lucas Veríssimo.
A lot happened since then, with Santos being runner-up in that league campaign and then getting to the Copa Libertadores final. That’s when Benfica agreed a deal to sign him for €6.5m.
Following the move in January this year, it only took a month for Veríssimo to adapt and become a regular starter for the Lisbon club. He’s been getting huge praise from the local media since then, and it was no different in the match against Barcelona, where he was highlighted as one of the key players in the win.
Now as we all know how Benfica deal with the transfer market, the Brazilian would certainly only move for a few times what he cost. He’s currently protected by a release clause of €100m.
