Scouts from Manchester City in attendance at Wednesday night Champions League fixture | OneFootball

Officials representing Manchester City were in attendance at one of the standout fixtures on matchday one of the UEFA Champions League this week.

The scouting mission was ongoing whilst the Premier League champions themselves were making their own debut in this season’s revamped format of the tournament, as Inter Milan travelled to the Etihad Stadium on matchday one.

A 0-0 draw was played out between the 2023 UEFA Champions League finalists, as Manchester City failed to capitalise on numerous late chances to claim all three points and get off to the perfect start in the league phase.

Elsewhere and the club were keeping a close eye on proceedings north of the border, paying a visit to Celtic Park to catch Brendan Rodgers’ side in action against Slovan Bratislava – the Slovakian giants that next host Manchester City on matchday two.

A new report has claimed that the purpose behind City’s visit to the Scottish Premier League giants was more to monitor the performance of one particular player, as opposed to getting an early idea of what to expect from Bratislava.

According to the information of HITC’s Graeme Bailey, City scouts were present at Celtic’s impressive opening night performance against Slovan Bratislava, as the Scottish Premier League side emerged 5-1 victors on Wednesday night.

Japan international and Celtic Kyogo Furuhashi is still reportedly on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City transfer radar, having interested the Premier League club for ‘a number of years’ due to his movement, one-touch link-play, and finishing.

Furuhashi was one of two names to be reliably linked with Manchester City interest at the end of the summer transfer window, as the club looked to come to terms with the departure of Julian Alvarez and a lack of natural striker support for Erling Haaland this season.

Now-former FC Copenhagen forward, Orri Oskarsson was linked with interest from Etihad Stadium officials as a potential back-up to Erling Haaland, but reports at the time clarified that is was unlikely that the club would pursue a deal.

Orri Oskarsson would secure an exit away from Denmark on transfer deadline day however, with FC Copenhagen agreeing to a club record sale of €20 million to La Liga club, Real Sociedad.