Man Utd scout caught watching €65m wonderkid

Manchester United are scouting Internacional youngster Ricardo Mathias, according to Brazilian media.

Since the partial INEOS takeover of Man Utd, there has been an increased focus on recruiting young players. The signings of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have been a departure from this stated goal, but Ruben Amorim needed more Premier League-proven quality after the club’s worst season since the founding of the division.

The main objective remains bringing in players with significant room to develop, like Patrick Dorgu, Chido Obi, Diego Leon, Enzo Kana-Biyik and even marquee striker signing Benjamin Sesko, who is still only 22 and raw in some areas of his game.

To that end, Man Utd scouts are scouring the world for potential gems, and Brazil is always a happy hunting ground for clubs looking to snap up football’s next big thing.

According to Globo Esporte, Man Utd have particularly been keeping tabs on the games of Brazilian side Internacional because of 19-year-old striker Ricardo Mathias.

Man Utd scouting Mathias

The towering centre-forward is said to have caught the eye of Alexandre Torres, who is working for Man Utd as a scout in Brazil. Torres himself is a notable character as he is the son of Selecao legend Carlos Alberto.

The report claims that Torres was in attendance at the Maracana on Wednesday when Internacional bowed out of the Copa do Brasil against Fluminense. He was there to specifically watch Mathias, who came on as a second-half substitute and played for half an hour.

The teenager is still looking to break into the first team regularly, having only made 17 senior appearances in his three years with Inter. He has scored three goals and boasts a whopping €65 million release clause.

In addition to Man Utd, another as yet unnamed Premier League club have also formally registered an interest in Mathias. Last summer, Dutch giants PSV had a bid rejected for the striker.

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