Erik ten Hag sent scout to watch Porto’s Diogo Costa and David Carmo | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag sent a scouting party to Portugal to watch a high-stakes game between Porto and Braga on Friday evening.

While it is still not crystal clear which players the scouting contingent from the English club were keeping their eyes on, the belief is that goalkeeper Diogo Costa and defender David Carmo were the main subjects of the mission.

The goalkeeper, Costa, has in recent months been widely linked with a potential move to the Theatre of Dreams with Ten Hag keen on a David de Gea replacement.

Yesterday United suffered a 6-3 drubbing at the hands of their city rivals in which De Gea’s shortcomings while they did not directly contribute to the thumping, were in full view for all to see.

The Spaniard is out of contract at United this summer although there is an option to extend by an additional year.

According to The Mirror, “Diogo Costa is viewed by Erik ten Hag as a replacement for David de Gea.”

“It comes little over a month after the United boss ripped into De Gea after his side’s humiliating four-goal loss at Brentford, describing the Spaniard’s decision-making as “naive” and a key reason behind the embarrassing collapse.”

According to Correio da Manhã via SportWitness, the goalkeeper’s agent, who is also De Gea’s facilitator, Jorge Mendes, is hell-bent on a big move for the Porto shot-stopper in 2023.

Alongside United, Atletico Madrid are also admirers of the 23-year-old.

With regard to Carmo, the Red Devils have always retained a long-standing interest in the Portuguese centre-back.

First linked with the club in 2020, he was also mentioned in the summer as a possible alternative to Jurrien Timber who rebuffed a switch to Old Trafford, electing to stay at Ajax ahead of the Qatar World Cup.

A report from two months ago indicated that United were still very much admirers of Carmo and should Timber still prove to be unattainable, the club would move in for the 6ft 5in specimen.