Despite having a big audience on Saturday evening, the Copa Libertadores final between Santos and Palmeiras couldn’t bring a fair attendance, as only five thousand people were allowed at the Maracanã stadium.
Now it turns out that one of the tickets went a representative of Manchester City, who according to UOL, had a scout watching the match.
The report says that Pep Guardiola’s side, along with Benfica, were keeping an eye on Palmeiras midfielder Patrick de Paula.
It’s claimed that the 21-year-old has been drawing the interest from European sides since the start of 2020, and was now watched in the most important game of his career.
UOL claims that there’s been several approaches for Patrick de Paula, but Palmeiras are still to receive an official bid for him. The player is protected by a release clause of €100m, and the club know that after winning the Copa Libertadores, the interest will only grow.
In Sport Witness’ pre-match report, we had already named Patrick de Paula as one of the youngsters to be watched in the final.
The midfielder, however, was left on the bench and was only brought on after 78 minutes. So despite his average performance, there was not a lot for Manchester City to see from him this time.
