Aston Villa of England youngster, Carney Chukwuemeka could become the next Nigerian lad to star for either of two Manchester-based English Premier League clubs, as he is reportedly currently attracting transfer interest at both Old Trafford and Etihad Stadium.
With the 17-year-old defender soaring through the ranks at Villa Park, his buzz has attracted both Manchester City and Manchester United, who are now reportedly among a number of top European clubs monitoring the youngster’s progress.
Megasportsarena.com reports that he is now looking good to follow the Nigerian footsteps set by Remi Moses and Odion Jude Ighalo at United and Kelechi ‘Kels’ Iheanacho at City, as both clubs are said to be toe-to-toe in the race to snatch the youngster.
Although Chukwuemeka is yet to make his senior debut for Villa, his potential has been spotted in various youth league games and he did make the bench for Wednesday night’s 2-1 home loss to Man City in the EPL.
That further gave rise to talk about a likely move to one of the league’s big clubs this summer, especially with that Villa boss, Dean Smith angling to give him minutes in the twilight weeks of the outgoing season.
British newspaper, The Guardian added: “City and United are joined by Monaco, PSV and RB Leipzig in holding an interest in Chukwuemeka. Villa chief executive Christian Purslow described Chukwuemeka as probably the best 16-year-old in England when he signed his first professional contract last year.
‘With his technical ability for such a player of his size – he’s 6ft tall – particularly standing out. Born in Austria to Nigerian parents, the midfielder has featured twice for England at U18 level. He is the youngest member of Villa’s U23 side, for whom he’s turned out 16 times this season.
“He had been set to face Liverpool in January’s 4-1 FA Cup third round at Villa Park, when Villa were forced to field a team of youngsters due to a COVID outbreak, but he missed out due to having to quarantine after training with the first team.”
However, both Manchester sides will also have to step up their efforts, as additional reports indicate that Chukwuemeka is also attracting attention from Bayern Munich of Germany and Juventus of Italy.
This is sequel to observations that has impressed for Villa’s development squad this season and is being tipped to shine for England at the Under-19 European Championship in Romania this summer.
Chukwuemeka was training with the first-team in the lead up to that match and, though he didn’t test positive for coronavirus, had to self-isolate under government guidelines as he was inside the first-team bubble and therefore could not return to the development squad to play.
He had been in line to make his senior debut against Liverpool in the English FA Cup earlier this month, but was ruled out following a coronavirus outbreak at the club, but Goal’s Tom Maston noted: “Despite his age, the 6 foot 1 youngster has developed into one of the most imposing midfielders in English youth football.
“Though he will likely need to fill out more when he is promoted to the senior game, his footballing intelligence combined with his physical attributes mark him out as being supremely gifted.”
Bayern and Juve are just two of the clubs that are keeping a close eye on Chukwuemeka’s development, with AS Monaco of France, PSV Eindhoven of Holland and RB Leipzig of Germany also all believed to be tracking the youngster.
However, Villa are desperate to keep him in The Midlands, where he signed a three-year deal when he turned 17 last October, and the club’s chief executive, Christian Purslow admitted that they aim to extend his stay on his next birthday.
Purslow, speaking at the Villa Supporters’ Trust AGM, labelled Chukwuemeka as one of the best young prospects in England and afirmd: “We have one right now, probably the best 16-year-old in England, Carney. Absolutely no debate, he’s starting for the U23s.
“That’s what you want with your 16 year olds. Not people who are not quite breaking into the first team, but staying around on contracts because it isn’t quite happening.”
