Midtjylland danger man, Franculinho Dju scored the home side's third on the night.placeholder image
Midtjylland danger man, Franculinho Dju scored the home side's third on the night. | Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Ima
Liverpool’s recruitment team will never stop scouring the globe for talent with scouts sent to watch one of the continent’s hottest prospects.
Liverpool scouts could be have been watching Franculino Dju to hijack United move, according to reports.
Liverpool scouts watch one of Europe’s hottest prospects
Recruitment never stops though and an interesting development has seen the scouting team seemingly turn up in the north of Europe with one of the continent’s hottest prospects a potential target. The X analysis and scouting page Cemil posted a video featuring a host of heavy weight teams in attendance at the recent Midtjylland vs Nordsjaelland fixture in Norway with one name in particular likely to be a common name on the respective observers' watch lists.
Currently attracting interest from Man United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Everton, as well as a host of teams across Europe, Guinea-Bissau international Franculino Dju – known simply as Franculino – has been a revelation since leaving Benfica’s youth setup to head to Midtjylland, scoring 55 goals alongside 14 assists in 83 appearances at just 21-years old. The 6ft tall striker isn’t just a goalscorer who’s capable of the special - he can handle himself physically too and it seems like only a matter of time before he is in the Premier League. With two goals against their title rivals, the watching scouts can’t fail to have been impressed.
The pressure of being a starting number nine might be too much immediately, however, supporting Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike could be the perfect role for him to continue his development, before challenging the two summer signings for a regular starting place further down the line. Successful teams of the past always had depth and options at centre-forward and, if Liverpool have aspirations of winning the Premier League and Champions League more often, they need more players who are capable of scoring goals from the first whistle and off the bench.
Franculino on his Champions League and big move dream
Speculation has been rife that Franculino could be sold next summer after winning Midtjylland’s player of the season in 2024/25 and a follow up award expected too: "He's always smiling, and his approach to the game is a great inspiration," said football director Peter Sand via Kicker. "He's a true striker, plays on instinct, possesses great individual skills, and does things on the pitch that you rarely see."
Clubs like Midtjylland thrive on selling at the right moment and clubs are lining up for Franculio, who has 16 goals in 16 league games and three assists for the season, as he continues to get better every year. Benfica must be regretting the fact that they never gave their academy graduate a proper chance when he was kicking his heels in the stands.
Reflecting on the interest, Franculino expressed his desire to one day move on to pastures new stating: "I'm very happy here, but of course I dream of playing in a bigger league one day," Franculino said in August in one of his rare interviews with the Danish television channel TV2 . "I want to play in La Liga in Spain and win the Champions League."
It might not quite be his desired destination, but one thing Liverpool could offer is the chance to win the Champions League.
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