Tottenham had scouts at the Dragão on Sunday, and this was one of those games where their notebook could have filled up pretty quickly.
Monday’s print edition of A Bola lists Spurs among the clubs represented for Porto’s 3-1 win over Benfica.
There’s no indication who Tottenham were specifically watching. There were, however, several players with obvious reasons to interest them – including some they’ve already been linked with.
And to get one obvious bit of curiosity out of the way, left-back Souza was there too. The Spurs loanee was on Porto’s bench but didn’t get on the pitch. He’s still waiting to make his debut for the Portuguese club.
Plenty for Tottenham to look at
Victor Froholdt was probably the best player on the pitch. The 20-year-old midfielder returned from concussion and immediately reminded everyone why bigger European clubs are paying attention.
He brought huge energy to Porto’s midfield, helped defensively and kept making dangerous runs. Froholdt then scored the crucial 2-1 just three minutes after Benfica had equalised.
Gabri Veiga also gave Tottenham’s scouts something to write down. The technically gifted 24-year-old has been consistently good for Porto and opened the scoring on Sunday. Pepê played him through and Veiga calmly finished after another clever run in behind.
Benfica had two particularly interesting young players on show too. Tomás Araújo had a difficult job once his defensive partner was sent off, but handled the situation better than most. The highly-valued centre-back was one of Benfica’s better performers despite Porto scoring three.
Gianluca Prestianni was their biggest attacking threat. The 20-year-old Argentine caused problems coming from the left, created chances and kept Porto busy. His excellent individual work also produced the assist for Alexander Bah’s goal.
Then there’s Vangelis Pavlidis. The striker didn’t score at the Dragão, but Tottenham would hardly judge him on one evening. He has eight goals from seven league games already this season. That’s useful given Spurs’ need for a reliable goalscorer.
Pavlidis has been linked with Tottenham before, so seeing him in person again would make plenty of sense. Even without a goal, he made Porto’s defenders work.
A very interesting return at Porto
One interesting moment for Tottenham scouts came right at the end. Samu Aghehowa – also known as Samu Omorodion – came off the bench for Porto.
The striker had been out for almost eight months after suffering an ACL injury. Sunday’s appearance was his first since the injury. Before that setback, Samu had been scoring heavily in Portugal and attracting interest from Tottenham.
He only got the final few minutes against Benfica, so there wasn’t much opportunity to judge his current level. Simply seeing him back on the pitch is significant.
If Tottenham’s previous interest hasn’t disappeared, his recovery is certainly something their scouts can now follow.
Some very familiar Benfica names
There were also a few players Tottenham already know quite well. Their former relegation battle hero João Palhinha started in Benfica’s midfield and was one of their best performers.
With Benfica down to ten men, he kept asking for the ball and fought for control in midfield. He won plenty of duels and did a lot of work trying to contain Porto.
Clément Lenglet had a very different evening. The former Tottenham defender was booked after 25 minutes and then received a second yellow ten minutes later. His dismissal left Benfica playing with ten for most of the match and completely changed the clássico.
Two more recent Tottenham targets started on the Benfica bench. Anatoliy Trubin was linked with Spurs during the last window but has since lost his starting place following a controversial summer.
Andreas Schjelderup was another Tottenham-linked player among the substitutes. The winger eventually came on right at the end but had little time to make any real impact.
So while we don’t know who Tottenham’s scouts were there for, they certainly weren’t short of possibilities.
