After Manchester City’s interest in the Benfica youngster Florentino has been revealed by the Italian and the English press, Portuguese newspaper A Bola today brings a very good piece on the chase.
The outlet claims that the Premier League side have been following the midfielder for a while, and had emissaries in Lisbon watching him twice.
One of the games scouted by Manchester City was Sunday’s match against Vitória de Setúbal for the Portuguese league. A Bola says the Citizens were not on the official list of scouts, but they did have two officials keeping an eye on Florentino.
A Bola has also learned that Florentino now has the attention of Pep Guardiola, who sees him as a ‘project of success’, and doesn’t want to lose the competition for the 19-year-old.
Florentino has recently signed a new contract until 2023 which includes a €60m release clause, but due to list of interested clubs, Benfica are already planning to double the clause to €120m, so they can have more power to negotiate once the bids arrive.
The wonderkid only has nine appearances for Benfica’s first team and hasn’t had much time to prove himself yet, but his performances will be getting a lot more attention now.
