Man City must be wary of forgotten man vs Sporting who could boost Erling Haaland transfer fund

"No, I never spoke to Pep Guardiola. I don't think he even knows they hired me! But they must be attentive to what I have been doing."

That was the eye-catching comment of Manchester City loanee Pedro Porro last summer, who could get that long-awaited chat with Guardiola when Sporting host the Blues in the Champions League this week.

Porro has been on loan at Sporting for the last 18 months, after signing for City in 2019 and previously spending time at Valladolid. In that time, Porro has been a key man for the Portuguese side, earning an international debut for Spain and reportedly attracting the attention of Real Madrid in the transfer market.

Now, reports in Portugal suggest he will be free to play against City in the Champions League last-16 despite being contracted to the Blues, and he will be keen to show his parent club what he is made of. If they know he exists.

Porro, 22, has four goals and four assists for Sporting this season from 21 appearances at right-back, already bettering his tally from last season. In just one-and-a-half seasons, he has played for the 'Lions' 58 times.

It was reported last week that Porro is keen to show Guardiola that he is 'registering the evolution' that led the City boss to endorse his signing in 2019, and Porro will certainly be the centre of attention for the two legs in the last-16.

City will obviously want to knock Porro and Sporting out of the Champions League, but will also be happy to see the right-back continue to impress as they have an opportunity to make money from him in the summer.

Sporting have a €8.5m option to buy Porro when his loan expires at the end of the season, and were said to be close to triggering that option last summer but opted against it.

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