Manchester United had ‘spies’ at Porto’s clash with Sporting Club de Portugal last night for the home side’s 1-0 win.
That’s according to A Bola, who say United were one of several clubs from Europe to send scouts to the big game in Portugal, which Porto won courtesy of an 82nd-minute strike from Toni Martinez.
The game was the second leg of the Taca de Portugal semi-final between the pair, with Porto securing a 3-1 win on aggregate courtesy of Martinez’s late goal.
The newspaper makes no mention of who Manchester United were there to monitor, just that they had people in attendance to watch the game.
In truth, they could have been there to watch players from either side, but the likelihood is that it was someone on the Porto team, given reports of late.
Several outlets have reported Manchester United scouting Porto matches frequently over the last few months, with the last two coming at the beginning of April.
On the 5th, it was stated they will have taken notice of Fábio Vieira’s performance when he scored a double in front of scouts, and that was then backed up a day later.
At that point, it was stated Manchester United were ‘attentive’ to the 21-year-old, and with them now back in Portugal for this game, we wouldn’t be surprised if it is him they were there to watch.
Whether he made an impression remains to be seen but expect more reports of United at Porto games in the coming months.
