Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Sunderland all had officials in Portugal last night, according to the local newspaper Record. Ahead of the transfer window, Rafael Benitez has sent his spies to watch Porto more than once, with Hector Herrera a possible target.
The emissaries watched Porto thrash Leicester City 5-0, and both teams are now qualified for the knock-out stages of the UEFA Champions League.
The Foxes had already traveled to Portugal with the first place of Group G in their hands, so manager Claudio Ranieri could rest some of their stars. Porto needed a win to make sure they would qualify, so we all knew what to expect from the game.
There were a few performances which could have caught the attention of those attending.
Mexican winger Jesús Corona was picked as the Man of the Match by Record, after making one assist for Porto’s first goal and scoring the second.
Striker André Silva also got a maximum rating as he scored twice and also made an assist. Other players such as Maxi Pereira, Felipe, Óliver Torres, Yacine Brahimi and Diogo Jota had their credits in the club’s huge win too.
We’re not sure if all these clubs would go all the way to Portugal to watch a Leicester City player. But if they did, it wasn’t a very good night to do so. The Foxes had no chance.
At least the North East trio of officials from Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland got the chance to cosy up.
