Everton scouts flew out to Portugal on Sunday to watch the Minho Derby between Braga and Vitoria de Guimaraes, according to a reliable journalist.
Jan Hagen, who is a reporter for the Metro newspaper, has revealed that the Toffees were one of a number of clubs to travel out to watch the top-flight Portuguese match.
Other clubs which jetted out to the same match were Premier League rivals Arsenal, plus Europa League group opponents Atalanta.
The football journalist made the claim on his personal Twitter account on Tuesday morning following Braga’s 2-1 victory over the Guimaraes side.
Arsenal, Sevilla, Watford and Everton were among the clubs that scouted Braga's Minho Derby victory against V.Guimarães this weekend. pic.twitter.com/dc4XDA1LJZ
— Jan Freðrik Hagen (@JanFHagen) September 19, 2017
The journalist did not reveal who the Toffees were keeping an eye on, but Paulinho, Raphina and Ahmed Mahgoub all managed to secure a goal for their sides during the clash.
OPINION
While it’s unknown, it’s most likely that Ronald Koeman would have asked the scouts to focus on looking for a new striker, as the manager has been very vocal about lacking options in that position after waving goodbye to goal machine Romelu Lukaku. The news of the scouting mission will please fans as it shows the club are already being proactive about their hunt for new recruits, but if the Toffees continue playing how they have been over recent weeks, the damage may already be done before January’s transfer window.