Manchester United had officials watch the match between Benfica and Estoril on Saturday, which is no surprise, given the club watch almost every Benfica match.
What is initially more eyebrow raising is that Manchester United, along with Watford, had someone in attendance for Pacos de Ferreira and Belenenses. On closer inspection, Manchester United’s reasoning for being there is probably to keep an Joel Pereira.
The young goalkeeper is on loan at Belenenses this season, and now he’s broken into the team it makes sense for Old Trafford officials to keep an eye on his progress.
Neither club have the biggest stars of Portuguese football traditionally, so it’s not immediately clear who a transfer target could be for Watford, or even Manchester United it their mission wasn’t Pereira related.
With both clubs on the official scouting list published by A Bola, perhaps the likeliest transfer target is Fabio Sturgeon (pictured above). The 22 year old midfielder is having a good season for Belenenses, and has been receiving some praise.
Given that Sturgeon’s father is English, there’s been transfer links previously, but now he’s catching wider attention it may be time for clubs to take a closer look.
