Manchester United and Manchester City are reportedly keeping tabs on Aston Villa’s 17-year-old prodigy Carney Chukwuemeka ahead of the summer window.
According to a report from The Guardian, Premier League giants Manchester United and Manchester City are closely tracking the progress of Aston Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka, who is widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in his age group in England.
Chukwuemeka, 17, started out at the Northampton Town academy before making the switch to Aston Villa in the summer of 2016. Since then, the young central midfielder has made rapid strides through the youth ranks at the Midlands club.
Chukwuemeka broke into Villa’s Under-18 team last season despite being 16 and has gone on to make 22 appearances for them, scoring five goals and setting up seven more. During the ongoing campaign, the midfielder was fast-tracked into the Under-23 side, for whom, he has impressed again, with a goal and three assists in 21 matches.
However, Chukwuemeka is yet to make his first-team debut, although that might not be too far, considering that the teenager has been named among the substitutes twice already in the Premier League this season.
The midfielder also made his debut for the England Under-18 team in March earlier this year. And, his progress through the ranks at Aston Villa has now caught the eyes of two of the biggest clubs in England with both Manchester United and Manchester City keeping tabs on Chukwuemeka’s development.
Manchester United, ever since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became manager, have switched back to a youth-centric recruitment approach and have been investing heavily in strengthening the age-group teams as well as the reserves. This has seen the Red Devils secure the signings of some special talents such as Charlie McNeill, Willy Kambwala among many others.
Of late, Manchester United have also been linked with youngsters with immense potential such as Pape Sarr of FC Metz while they have also set their sights on AFC Wimbledon’s teenage goalkeeper Matthew Cox. And Chukwuemeka seems to be the latest such young player to have registered on the Red Devils’ radars.
However, they are likely to face competition from neighbours Manchester City, who are also monitoring the 17-year-old. Much like United, City, too have been working towards building a robust youth development structure and have been recruiting players to that end, most recently beating Liverpool to secure the services of Kayky. And, they are hoping to repeat the trick with Chukwuemeka as well.
Apart from the two Manchester clubs, the 17-year-old is also being tracked by the likes of RB Leipzig, AS Monaco and PSV Eindhoven. Chukwuemeka signed a three-year contract with Aston Villa last year when he turned 17. The club, though, are hoping to offer an extension when he turns 18 in October.
Described as an attack-minded midfielder with great technical qualities and the ability to glide past opponents with ease, it remains to be seen if Chukwuemeka makes his way to either Manchester United or Manchester City this summer.
