Scouts from Sky Bet Championship side Aston Villa were present to watch the Belgian Pro League fixture between Royal Excel Mouscron and Cercle Brugge on Sunday afternoon, according to reports from local news outlet La Derniere Heure, via Birmingham Live.

Representatives from Villa Park were present as Mouscron ran out emphatic 3-0 winners over Brugge at the weekend, as Dean Smith looks to find talent ahead of a summer overhaul at the club.

The Villans were around high company too, with scouts from AC Milan, VfL Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb and RC Lens also present at Stade Le Canonnier.

[ad_pod ]

The West Midlands club have dispatched scouts to several different locations over the last few months, with reports claiming that scouts witnessed the Ligue 1 fixture between Bordeaux and Dijon last month.

Villa's push for promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs has somewhat derailed in recent weeks - after winning just one of their last nine league games, the club are down to 10th in the Sky Bet Championship table, nine points off the play-offs.

The Verdict

This is a really interesting development, you don't really see a lot of clubs send scouts to Belgium, but it is refreshing to see, especially from a club in the Championship.

Dean Smith is known for bringing in talent from abroad after signing the likes of Neal Maupay, Yoann Barbet and Emiliano Marcondes at Brentford.

There are actually some very good players in the Belgian League, and it will be interesting to see how this pans out in the summer.

Thoughts? Let us know!