Benfica starlet Joao Neves was among the players watched by a whole host of Premier League scouts as he netted in his side’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Sporting CP on Sunday, 90min understands.
The two Portuguese giants have plenty of players attracting interest from England. Both Manchester City and Manchester United are long-time admirers of Neves but representatives from Arsenal and Liverpool also watched the 19-year-old midfielder’s performance closely.
Neves, who now has 38 appearances for Benfica, netted an equaliser in stoppage time before substitute Casper Tengstedt sent the home fans away with a smile on their faces by netting the winner in the 97th minute.
90min understands more than a dozen clubs were present at the Estadio do Dragao but Neves was by no means the only player under observation.
Liverpool and United were also understood to be checking on their defensive targets in the shape of Goncalo Inacio and Antonio Silva, who had wildly contrasting evenings. Inacio picked up a second yellow card just minutes after half-time whereas Silva helped Benfica to the win.
Fellow Premier League sides Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham United are all believed to have had representatives at the game.
Tottenham officials were looking at numerous targets, including defenders, but their main point of interest was Sporting midfield pair Pedro Goncalves and their former youngster Marcus Edwards, who has shone in Portugal since leaving Spurs in 2019.
As well as the English interest, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Celtic also had people in attendance as both Benfica and Sporting brace for significant interest in their top stars in the coming months.
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