Man Utd scouts watch three Benfica stars ahead of January window

Manchester United were among several Premier League clubs represented at Benfica’s clash with Porto on Sunday as the club made checks on three potential January transfer targets.

A goal from Haris Seferovic was enough to give the 10-man hosts all three points in the match at the Stadium of Light, and while it is unclear who United were looking at, the Manchester Evening News did name one potential target and also suggested the club are keen to recruit a new centre-half, a new winger and a back-up striker.

And the paper suggests watching Manchester United scouts won’t have failed to notice the impressive performance of Benfica defender Ruben Dias.

Dias, who at 21 is still considered a rookie in the centre of defence, has emerged from the shadow of the departed Victor Lindelof to become Benfica’s first-choice centre-half over the past two seasons and was among those to really catch the eye in the top-of-the-table clash.

The defender came up through the club’s youth ranks and still has just 39 appearances to his name. However, at 21, he has already been capped by his country having been called up to their 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

He’s said to already been valued at around the €40m (£35m) mark by Benfica.

United have a long history of monitoring Portuguese football’s hottest prospects and have brought in the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson, Nani, Bebe, Marcos Rojo, Lindelof and Diogo Dalot – all to mixed success – over recent years.

BERN, SWITZERLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Diogo Dalot of Manchester United challenges Miralem Sulejmani of Berne during the Group H match of the UEFA Champions League between BSC Young Boys and Manchester United at Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf on September 19, 2018 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)

The club also appointed a new Portuguese first-team scout, Joao Ferreira, two years ago.

United weren’t the only Premier League side represented at the match, however, with scouts from Juventus, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, PSG, Arsenal, Lyon, Inter, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace also in attendance.

 

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