Chelsea have been tipped to go head-to-head with Manchester City for the signature of rising 15-year-old Arsenal talent Ethan Nwaneri.
Back in October the young midfielder was handed his Gunners debut away to Brentford, making him the youngest player to ever feature in English top-flight history at 15 years and 181 days.
Since then Nwaneri has continued his development at youth level, scoring 7 goals in 13 games in all competitions this season, but has not featured for Mikel Arteta 's team in competitive play. This is likely no fault of his own, but more the fact that his club need all the experience they can get to stave off a City fightback in the ongoing Premier League title race.
READ MORE: Who is Ethan Nwaneri? Arsenal wonderkid named on bench for Brentford clash
According to the Secret Scout, Chelsea have been keeping a watchful eye on the player, and are interesting in prying the youngster away from their London rivals. Pep Guardiola 's side have also identified Nwaneri as one for the future, which could result in a battle behind the scenes if Arsenal do fail to keep hold of him.
Nwaneri is certainly a target that fits the profile of the Blues' youthful transfer approach since Todd Boehly's takeover. While there may be questions asked of the money involved, there is no doubting the club's rebuild is one with an air of excitement surrounding it.
If Nwaneri buys into this and does end up swapping the Emirates Stadium for Stamford Bridge, there will be the option to make the most of the Blues' youth infrastructure to boost his progress, with involvement in Graham Potter 's set-up a possibility - much like Carney Chukwuemeka since his arrival last summer.
Now the question will be if this supposed interest leads to anything concrete in the coming months, and of course if Arsenal are able to convince their man that they are the best option for his burgeoning career.
However, one card that Chelsea could play in their pursuit is their experience of the difficulties of keeping hold of youth players, as demonstrated by the Jude Soonsup-Bell saga last month, so could use that to their advantage when the roles are reversed.
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