West Brom, Southampton & Leicester among clubs seeking transfer deal for 22-y/o attacker | OneFootball

West Brom, Leicester and Southampton are among a host of Championship clubs that are interested in signing Benfica forward Tiago Gouveia on loan for the season.

Who is Tiago Gouveia?

The 22-year-old is a name that won’t be known to most fans in England, as he has spent his short career so far in Portugal.

Gouveia swapped Sporting Lisbon for Benfica as a teenager, and most of his game time had come with the B team of the Lisbon giants, although he did make two senior appearances in the 2021/22 campaign.

With the youngster way down the pecking order, it was decided he should spend last season out on loan, with Gouveia scoring five goals and registering six assists for Estoril as he helped them to secure safety in the Portuguese top-flight.

Tiago Gouveia wanted by Championship clubs

The attacker, who can play in different positions in the final third, is now ready for the next step to help his development, with minutes still highly unlikely to come at Benfica given the quality ahead of him in the pecking order.

So, another temporary switch is on the cards, and Telegraph reporter Mike McGrath has revealed that there is plenty of Championship interest in Gouveia, who is likely to leave ahead of the deadline.

“Benfica forward Tiago Gouveia, 22, has attracted interest from several clubs in the Championship for a season-long loan. Leicester, Southampton, Hull, Watford and West Brom are among teams in the race to sign the Portugal Under-21 international. Was on loan at Estoril last season.”

Who will sign Tiago Gouveia?

Ultimately, this is going to be down to Benfica and the player. They will assess the proposals on the table, and providing they match up financially, in terms of covering the right amount of wages and a potential loan fee, it will then be on the game time involved.

Clearly, the priority for Gouveia is going to be to play every week, so that may be more difficult at some of the top Championship clubs such as Leicester and Southampton given the attacking talent they have.

On the other hand, Benfica might feel a more expansive style of play is a better environment for the player to improve, which is what they will want from this agreement.

Championship clubs set for busy final weeks of window

The window is notoriously competitive, and this is an example of that, with so many clubs in the market for the same player as they look to improve their squads.

Financially, there aren’t many clubs in the division that have the capability to spend big, so it’s about identifying loan targets and hoping that bigger clubs in England and across Europe will be open to doing business.

So, there will be many battles over the coming weeks, and the level of interest in Gouveia shows that whoever does manage to bring him in, will be making a great addition, and they will be getting one over many of their rivals in the league.