Liverpool are seemingly eyeing a move for Benfica’s Antonio Silva, having reportedly sent scouts to watch him in action.
The 19-year-old played in the Champions League for his club last night, starting in their 5-1 drubbing of Club Brugge (Transfermarkt), although it was in another recent fixture that delegates from Anfield witnessed him firsthand.
90min reported that the Reds, along with Tottenham, had dispatched scouting teams to Lisbon for the Portuguese club’s 2-0 win over Famalicao last Friday, with the teenager named as one of the players who was being watched by the Premier League duo.
As mentioned in the report from 90min, Silva made history at the 2022 World Cup when he became the youngest-ever player to represent Portugal in the tournament by featuring in their group-stage defeat to South Korea.
The teenager hadn’t even made a senior club appearance prior to the start of this season but has taken little time to establish himself as one of the first names on Roger Schmidt’s teamsheet, playing in 32 matches already in the current campaign – every one of those as a starter (Transfermarkt).
Valued at €23.3m (£20.7m) by Football Transfers, the teenager is very accomplished in possession. As per FBref, his 91.8% passing success rate in 2022/23 places him in the top 1% of centre-backs outside of Europe’s big five leagues for that metric.
It’s also superior to every current member of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad (FBref), so it appears as if he could improve the Reds in terms of their fluency in playing out from the back.
Whether the Merseysiders’ recent scouting mission will lead to anything concrete is unclear, although he certainly seems like a player worth keeping an eye on in the months ahead.