Leicester City winger re-emerges as transfer target for Manchester City | OneFootball

Links between Leicester City’s highly-rated 16-year-old winger, Jeremy Monga and Manchester City have re-emerged in new reports this week.

City have been a hub for outstanding youth talent to develop and thrive over the course of the last decade in particular, whether that be for their own first-team or at other clubs, as seen through the likes of Romeo Lavia, Liam Delap, Cole Palmer, and Tosin Adarabioyo.

Higher-ups within the City Football Academy continuously oversee the next generation to nurture in the hope of guiding them towards Pep Guardiola’s first-team. The current cohort of players includes exciting names, such as Divine Mukasa, Jaden and Reigan Heskey, and more.

Manchester City scouts are always looking for more weapons to add to the arsenal of their youth setup, and it appears as though the club are keen for their latest recruit to be Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga.

The Blues came close to signing the Englishman in the summer, but the player instead elected to stay with the Foxes and sign a scholarship with the club. Since then, the teenager has become a fixture in the senior team – likely a huge factor in his decision to stay.

The choice to sign a scholarship, however, has seemingly not deterred Manchester City, who persist with interest and continue to keep a watchful eye on Monga, with new reports claiming that they are preparing a fresh approach to Leicester City – according to TBR Football.

The 2016 Premier League winners, however, would be powerless if Monga were to elect to leave, as he is not eligible to sign a professional contract until he turns 17 in June, meaning if Manchester City were to turn his head, negotiations should be relatively straightforward.

What does complicate proceedings, however, is that Jeremy Monga is highly thought of at a multitude of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Newcastle United.

Previously, the winger has been happy to remain in the East Midlands due to the amount of first-team minutes afforded to him, and that is likely to be the club’s main chance of retaining their 16-year-old talent.

Journalist Graeme Bailey, offering his thoughts as part of the report, has tipped Jeremy Monga to be one of the most promising talents in the English game as he explained, “Monga is a generational talent.

“At just 16, he already has more first-team appearances than players like Rio Ngumoh and Max Dowman, who have made huge impacts in the Premier League. But let’s not forget, Monga has already played in the Premier League and previously turned down approaches before signing his scholarship.”

Bailey continued, “Interest remains high, and there is a belief that by January he could be ready to make a move. Leicester are hoping that giving him regular first-team opportunities will convince him to stay until the summer, when he can sign a professional deal.

“At that point, the club could either sell him or at least secure a fee, rather than risk losing him for minimal compensation.”

While Manchester City already have a host of exceptional youth talent at their disposal, it remains to be seen whether the Blues will look to fend off competition from some of the biggest names in the English top-flight to make Jeremy Monga their latest addition.