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On Tuesday, we covered an article from Calcio Mercato which said Manchester United and Manchester City were scouting Benfica’s youngster Banimir Kalaica.

As their story was based on A Bola, we pointed out that the Portuguese newspaper never said that. They had an article claiming that United and City were watching a Benfica B game and another talking about Kalaica’s debut. The articles were at the side of each other and it appeared Calcio Mercato decided to merge them.

They repeated the claim on Thursday. Although their main focus is Genoa’s alleged interest in the defender, they claim that United and City have been keeping an eye on him for a long time.

The new story is more of an introduction to him, talking about his start at Dinamo Zagreb and comparisons to Laurent Blanc.

They claim that Kalaica’s current market value is lower than one million (probably based on Transfermarkt, who rate him at €250k), but say that the recent interest from bigger clubs should increase this price.

They also write that the most difficult thing in this deal would be to convince Benfica, since the club believe a lot in the 18-year-old.

Calcio Mercato often has very good exclusives, but this story seems totally pointless. They may have learned some information on Genoa’s interest, but the way they included Manchester United and Manchester City in the story is curious.

If United and City scouts were there, they certainly watched the player. But whether they’ve traveled only to keep an eye on him, that’s another story.