Chelsea step up plans to beat Man Utd to Drogba-esque striker as talks held for second African talent | OneFootball

Chelsea are looking to beat a number of Premier League rivals, including Manchester United, to the signing of African striker starlet Loukman Tapsoba, TEAMtalk understands.

Chelsea are one of number of clubs who have been following Tapsoba closely for most of 2025.

United have been seen as leading the charge for Tapsoba when it comes to English interest, but now TEAMtalk can reveal that Chelsea have stepped up their campaign to land him.

Tapsoba, who has been likened to Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, impressed while playing for Burkina Faso at the recent Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, where he was actually one of the youngest at the tournament at just 15.

Indeed Tapsoba, attached to the Real du Faso academy, would be unable to move until 2027.

As well as United and Chelsea, the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham have also been doing their checks on him, as have the likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Marseille, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus.

Whilst Chelsea are looking at a deal for Tapsoba, he is not the only Burkina Faso prospect on their radar as they have also had conversations about his international colleague Mohamed Zongo – who also impressed in Qatar on his nation’s journey to the quarter-finals of the tournament.

16-year-old Zongo, who plays as an attacking midfielder, is currently with SFC Tenakourou and like Tapsoba would not be able to move, in theory, until 2027.

Chelsea are no strangers to setting up transfers for the future, with deals for the likes of Geovanny Quenda, Denner Evangelista, Emmanuel Emegha, Dastan Satpaev and Deinner Ordonez already agreed for future windows.

This summer, they welcomed Estevao Willian to their squad from Palmeiras after arranging the move a year in advance.

Chelsea transfer news: What we’re hearing

Meanwhile, Chelsea have also held talks for versatile Austrian attacker, Johannes Moser, who was another standout player at the Under-17 World Cup.

However, the FC Liefering talent looks set to snub Premier League interest from the Blues and Manchester City in favour of a different destination.

Elsewhere, my colleague Dean Jones has reported how Chelsea are still keeping tabs on AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan – although the recent form of Robert Sanchez has had an impact on their plans.