When Marco Silva was in charge at Everton, scouting Portugal for talent seemed to become something of a priority.
Every week Everton had scouts at various games, usually Benfica and Porto, presumably scouting some of their young emerging talent.
That’s died down a little since his departure, with things taking a distinctly different route under Carlo Ancelotti, but their interest in the country hasn’t dwindled.
Indeed, this week has seen them already take in one game with A Bola reporting Everton had a scout in attendance to watch Rangers win over Braga in the Europa League.
Now, as is usually the case, they don’t mention who Everton were there to scout specifically, but this is the latest Braga game they’ve taken in, having also had someone watch them last week and in December as well.
Those are just the ones we know of so, who in the Portuguese side’s squad would be of interest to the Toffees?
The obvious answer is Ricardo Horta, who has 18 goals and seven assists in 40 games this season and already has interest from Newcastle United.
He’s a left-winger, predominantly but can also play on the right-wing too and Everton are known to be on the hunt for a player in that position this summer.
Striker Paulinho could be another option, he’s got 17 goals and five assists in 36 games this season and could provide extra competition for Everton’s current front three.
Right-winger Trincáo would have been an ideal target, except he’s off to Barcelona in the summer, so there’s little chance of that happening unless Marcel Brands fancies using his good relationship with the Spanish giants to get a loan deal.
Other than those three it’s hard to see who Everton would be targeting from the Liga Nos side unless a defender such as Wallace, Bruno Viana or Pablo Santos is on their watchlist.
