Carlos Carvalhal says the Europa League showdown with Rangers is the perfect stage for both he and his players to audition for a dream move to the big time.
The much-travelled former Swansea and Sheffield Wednesday boss is out of contract at the end of the summer and has already admitted he’s eyeing another switch abroad following previous stints in Greece and Turkey.
But he believes the clash with Gio van Bronckhorst ’s Ibrox troops could also offer a clutch of his talented youngsters the chance to impress watching scouts from the Premier League.
Skipper Ricardo Horta has been linked with Liverpool and Arsenal, while midfield ace David Carmo has also been watched by Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield spies.
Carvalhal said: “We are doing our job and it’s what we did at Rio Ave the year before last and with Braga this year and last.
“We all the time have this expectation that the big clubs can look to us.
“Of course like the players, it’s the same for the manager.
“So we have a philosophy, one way to play for sure all the time but with different variations in our game.
“So we have the expectation that someone will look to us and say come and work with us.
“We’ve had it in the past, especially the Brazilian clubs who said, ‘We want you because we want to play like your team is playing at the moment’. So this is very positive.
“We have an opportunity not just to show this to England, but to all the world. So let’s see what happens.
“We’ve got the youngest team left in the Europa League.
“We have a lot of boys with very young quality.
“This question is put to me and I understand, but it also goes for our players.
“David Carmo was linked last year with Liverpool. We have a lot of talented players aged 17, 18, 19 who want to play in England.
“They now have a good opportunity to show their abilities to the clubs across the world.
“The clubs will look to the manager but also the players.”
Carvalhal was at Ibrox on Sunday to see Rangers' bid to retain their Scottish title crumble as they were beaten 2-1 by Celtic.
The Braga boss said the spying trip was a useful exercise as it allowed him to identify weaknesses in Van Bronckhorst's backline.
But he conceded the Dutchman will also be plotting to take advantage of the flaws in his own line-up.
He said: "Listen, we have weaknesses also. The manager of Rangers will look at us and say the same.
"We have strong points and weak points all the teams in the world have weak points.
"Our job is to look at our opponents and see the strong points and weak points and try to exploit them."
Gers have been hit with a bitter blow after Euro talisman Alfredo Morelos was ruled out for the rest of the season but Carvalhal said: "I can say the same, I have two or three injuries and I can say that if I have my players then we will be better because I have better options
"We have injuries, Rangers have injuries, this is part of the game."
