Manchester City have no certainty of which league they’ll be playing in next season. Or, if it’s the Championship, whether there’s going to be a realistic chance of promotion back to the Premier League.
With a slim chance of success through any appeal, City are largely left waiting to find out what their punishment is and the consequences of that.
However, that does not mean the club have paused their recruitment processes. Efforts are still going on to identify targets ahead of the coming transfer windows.
And that doesn’t mean Manchester City are sending officials to scout Championship matches. Oh no, the eye is still on the Champions League.
**Manchester City**
Signings directly from Portugal · Past decade
Year
Player
Signed from
Position
Initial fee
2017
Ederson
Benfica
Goalkeeper
€40m
2019
Félix Correia\*
Sporting CP
Winger
€3.5m
2020
Rúben Dias
Benfica
Centre-back
€68m
2025
Nico González
Porto
Midfielder
€60m
Covers 21 October 2016 to 21 October 2026. Includes permanent signings directly from Portuguese clubs, regardless of nationality. Returning loanees excluded. \*Correia was a development signing and did not make a competitive first-team appearance for City. Fees are reported initial amounts in euros, excluding potential add-ons. Dias’s fee is shown before the separate sale of Nicolás Otamendi to Benfica.
Sources: Manchester City, Reuters, RTP and Record.
**Manchester City official in Portugal**
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Enzo Maresca’s side had an official at the match between FC Porto and PSV on Tuesday evening. As explained by the print edition of A Bola, Manchester City were one of several clubs doing early transfer work.
[Sport Witness records show](https://sportwitness.co.uk/manchester-city-official-returns-to-dragao-11-days-later-porto-player-caught-their-eye/) City officials were at the Dragão for the second time in a month. Both of those visits have come since City’s 2-0 victory over Porto in the Champions League, with Erling Haaland scoring both of those goals.
The hunch is that someone impressed City during that match, and has been checked on since. During the last scouting trip, Victor Froholdt impressed in a 3-1 victory over Benfica.
Unfortunately, the 20-year-old Danish midfielder wasn’t so good on Tuesday as Porto lost 1-0 to PSV.
For the Dutch club, 21-year-old winger Esmir Bajraktarević was a standout. It’s easy to argue that none of the players on display would find it easy getting into Maresca’s side in the near future.
However, should Manchester City soon find themselves at a different level and with several stars having left, then the situation will obviously be different for any recruits.