"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.
There has been talk of interest from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, with Sporting reportedly considering making a quick profit by signing him for the agreed fee with City, before selling him for considerably more in the same window.
City are shrewd operators in the transfer market, and may try to put some sell-on or buy-back clauses in any sale, as they could surely command a much higher fee than the one agreed in 2020. If Sporting can't, or don't, trigger that clause, City will see an opportunity to get as high a price as possible for their forgotten defender.
Even if they 'only' get that €8.5m, it would still be a welcome contribution to City's transfer fund to sign Erling Haaland this summer.
Maybe Guardiola, or someone from the City delegation, will make the effort to seek Porro out this week and see where he sees his future. Whatever happens, he could play a useful role in City's striker hunt in the summer, so the Blues will have plenty of reasons to pay close attention to Porro on Tuesday.
