Bayern Munich were sniffing around Ismael Saibari even before the World Cup began.
The PSV midfielder has reportedly been the subject of a €53m (£45.7m) bid from the German giants this week, with the Dutch club still holding out for all of the money up front from Bayern before a deal is done.
But Morocco international Saibari may well have put potential transfer rivals on alert with a brilliant goal in a strong showing against Brazil.
Contentious African champions Morocco came into this competition tipped to be a dark horse once again after making it to the semi-finals of the last World Cup out in Qatar.
Brazil meanwhile had plenty to prove after going through a difficult qualification campaign that led them to pull out the stops and move to appoint Carlo Ancelotti as manager last year.
That may only have had the effect of raising the expectation on the Selecao once again, though.
Brazil will be desperate to do better this year than the four quarter-final exits and a sole semi-final appearance from their past five World Cups…and even that semi turned out to be one of the most embarrassing nights in the country’s football history.
They were given more than a little scare that their first game of the competition might not go as planned as they fell behind to Morocco in the opening game of group C.
Brahim Diaz played a brilliant ball in behind the Brazilian defence, and Saibari timed his run perfectly to get clean through on goalkeeper Alisson.
The Liverpool stopper was left powerless outside his box, however, as Saibari lifted the ball perfectly over his head to put Morocco 1-0 up.
Getting the better of megastars like Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhaes and Alisson with such apparent ease, and on such a big stage, showed why Bayern are so keen to sign Saibari.
But that is the kind of high-profile strike that might well put other potential suitors on his scent - and Bayern could be well-advised to stop quibbling over a €5m add-on and stump up the cash before anyone else sneaks in the back door.
Belgian-raised Saibari has been at PSV since 2020, intitially playing in their youth team before becoming a first-team regular in 2022/23.
The 25 year old scored 19 goals in 37 games in all competitions for the Dutch side last season, playing a key role in their romp to the Eredivisie title.
