Manchester United watching Benfica star Andrija Zivkovic after Jose Mourinho orders scouts to keep tabs
JOSE MOURINHO has ordered his scouts to track the progress of Benfica starlet Andrija Zivkovic, according to reports.
Manchester United boss Mourinho has worked hard to re-build the scouting network at Old Trafford to ensure the club are aware of the best young players in Europe.
And one of the names to have been flagged up to him is Serbian winger Zivkovic who is beginning to make a name for himself in the Portuguese league.
The O Jogo newspaper in Portugal have revealed United have had scouts watching all of Benfica's matches this season on the instruction of Mourinho.
And those scouts had been taking in Benfica matches even before the two clubs were drawn to face each other in the Champions League group stages this season.
They claim there has been a strong interest in the performances of 21-year-old Zivkovic, who has shown up as one of the best young talents in the country.
Zivkovic has long been regarded as a potential top player in Serbia, after making his debut for Partizan Belgrade as a 17-year-old.
Such was his impact there he was given his senior international debut for the country at the same age.
He even became the youngest captain in Partizan's history when he was handed the armband in his breakthrough season aged 17 years 7 months.
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Benfica snapped him up on a five year deal at the beginning of last season, and during this campaign he has become one of their hey players.
His progress caught the attention of Mourinho, and initial reports from the scouts this season are understood to be positive.
The United boss is desperate to ensure his scouting network spots emerging young talents like Zivkovic having felt it was not good enough when he first took charge a year ago.
Since then he has commissioned a major overhaul of the club's team across the world, particularly in Europe.
Earlier this summer he made a big move by snatching the highly-rated Javier Ribalta from Juventus and asking him to head up United's entire scouting operation.
Ribalta is credited with helping turn Juve back into one of the most dominant forces in European football in his five years in Turin.
He was credited for delivering Paul Pogba, Kinglsey Coman and Alvaro Morata to the club along with Sami Khadira - signings that helped Juventus win the last six Serie A titles.
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