It would appear that Ronald Koeman has told Everton to really ramp up their scouting of Portugal, and the club have happily fallen into line with their manager’s wishes. Koeman, formerly manager of Portuguese giants Benfica, had done similar at Southampton, which ultimately led to the signing of Cedric Soares.
Since Koeman left Southampton the club’s scouting in Portugal has reduced, with their officials not on scouting lists nearly as much as they once were. Claude Puel likely has different ideas, and Koeman has taken his Portuguese planning to Everton.
Since the Dutchman’s arrival, the scouting has increased, and the past few days is a perfect example of that. Everton had an official at Friday’s match between Pacos de Ferreira and Vitoria Guimaraes, then Saturday’s match between Porto and Sporting, and on Monday they had someone at Feirense versus Rio Ave, report A Bola.
Southampton, meanwhile, haven’t been included on any scouting lists for the last round of matches, which would have been unusual during Koeman’s time at the club.
