Manchester United Dispatched Scouts to Watch Over Marseille and Dortmund - Report

Manchester United were just one club who dispatched scouts to watch over Marseille's final Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund with Florian Thauvin understood to the subject of their attention.

In an absorbing final night of Champions League group stage football a late Dortmund goal saw Jürgen Klopp's side beat the hosts 2-1 at the Stade Velodrome, a result which saw them top their group ahead of Arsenal.

But for a number of scouts in attendance, the result itself mattered little. French newspaper La Provence report that scouts from United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Manchester City travelled to Maseille to take in the game, having also watching over the Under-19 clash between the two clubs in the UEFA Youth League earlier that day.

20-year-old Thauvin was reportedly the focus of United and Chelsea scouts. However any attempts to sign the attacking midfielder during the January transfer window are likely to be in vain, with the player having only just signed a five year contract with OM after completing his move from Lille in August.

After sparkling for Bastia in the first half of last season, Lille swooped to sign Thauvin in January, fending off interest from Arsenal to secure the future of the France Under-21 international.

He was allowed to see out the remainder of the season with his former club but after a fantastic Under-20 World Cup campaign with France things began to sour. Just after arriving from Lille, Thauvin vehemently pushed for a move to a bigger club and after weeks of negotiations forced his way to Marseille - for a fee three times what Lille paid just six months earlier.

With both Jose Mourinho and David Moyes recently stressing the importance of closing the gap on their rivals, both clubs may look to add to their squads when the transfer window reopens in January.