On Thursday we covered multiple claims from Portugal that Pep Guardiola had flown to Lisbon this week to check out Alex Grimaldo.
Benfica played Braga on Monday night, and Grimaldo played well, but Manchester City weren’t on the official scouting list. Yet several days later, a story was leaked to the Portuguese press in unison, saying Pep flew out with his brother Pere to watch the match.
It didn’t add up, as we put it: ‘Now that all the outlets have basically published the same information, it’s a little obvious that it was leaked to all of them at once.
The big question about this trip is that Pep Guardiola isn’t exactly an unknown face in Europe, so it’d be pretty impressive if he left Manchester for Lisbon, entered and watched a match in a crowded football stadium, and then did the return trip… all without anyone recognising him.’
Well, there’s a very good reason Guardiola wasn’t spotted, Sport Witness has been informed that he wasn’t there.
However, the story hasn’t come from nowhere. Someone has made a great effort this week to push this story to the Portuguese media, so it would appear Manchester City’s name was used to up the player’s profile.
Since then, A Bola have also linked Manchester United, and other top clubs will surely follow, all very impressive for a player still establishing himself.
