In the past couple of years, West Brom have been repeatedly linked to several players from the Portuguese league, maybe more than any other mid-table Premier League side.
Even though it’s always hard to tell whether the reports of interest and offers are true or not, it’s safe to say that there’s something going on, as they continue scouting Portugal’s top clubs.
And things are happening again at the start of this season. Only this time with Benfica, West Brom first watched the Lisbon side face Belenenses last month, and now, as reported by O Jogo, they scouted the club’s Champions League match against CSKA.
Just in the second part of the last season, West Brom were linked to four different Benfica players. Jardel, Andreas Samaris, André Horta and Raul Jimenez. And they all have something in common: none of them played last night.
Benfica’s Bruno Varela, Alex Grimaldo and Andrija Živković were praised by the local press, but CSKA’s 2-1 win deserved the spotlight, with Viktor Vasin, Pontus Wernbloom, Vitinho and Timur Zhamaletdinov all doing a great job.
Other Premier League clubs who sent scouts to the match were Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Huddersfield Town, Leicester City, Southampton, and Newcastle United.
