As Tottenham Hotspur fans probably remember, the club were recently linked to the Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo. Reports from the Portuguese press presented Spurs as a possible destination for the player in the January market.
Benfica were said to be keen to sell, and Grimaldo is available for around €30m.
Now it’s interesting that Tottenham been in Lisbon on Wednesday night, as they had representatives watching the local derby between Benfica and Sporting.
O Jogo who reports the scouting, and although they don’t have any info on who Spurs were watching, the only player from these clubs that was recently said to be of the London side’s interest is Grimaldo.
But it turns out that this wasn’t the best night for him. Benfica didn’t start the game well, having conceded first, and even during the search for an equaliser, when they had several attacking plays in a row, Grimaldo couldn’t show much.
The big reason for a bad display was because Grimaldo had to mark Gelson Martins, one of the best players there is in Portugal, and couldn’t quite do the job well, including for Sporting’s opening goal.
In case Tottenham were open to watching other players, Eduardo Salvio and Filip Krovinovic both did well for the home side. For Sporting, needless to say, it was Gelson Martins who really offered Benfica some danger.
The list of scouts also included Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Sheffield Wednesday, Mainz, Eibar, Swansea City, West Ham and Freiburg.
