Manchester City eyeing U17 World Cup breakout star – Manchester United and Villarreal also interested | OneFootball

Manchester City are one of several clubs to be showing interest in Burkina Faso’s promising attacking midfielder Mohamed Zongo, according to reports from Africa. 

The youngster was crucial in his country’s run to the quarter-final and scored the decisive goal against Germany to win in the last 32. Eventually exiting the tournament at the hands of Italy, he was denied twice by the woodwork and has been named Player of the Match on several occasions, including a Round of 16 win over Uganda. 

As a result of his unwavering potential, Zongo has attracted clubs from all over Europe and alongside City, the youngster is also wanted by Manchester United, Villarreal and Anderlecht – with his stock rising and clubs across the continent taking note of his heroics at Tenakourou Academy.

Zongo is thought to be another rising star who could exceed expectations at the City Football Academy (CFA) – a development centre as good as any in world football for up-and-coming talents and one that has produced some of the greatest youngsters of this generation.

If he is to sign for City, it’s almost a guarantee that Zongo is likely to go straight into the youth system at just 15 years of age, following in the footsteps of striker prodigy Mahamadou Sangare, who has gone from strength to strength in the club’s youth setup since his summer arrival from Paris Saint-Germain.

City have been monitoring a number of midfielders as the January transfer window nears amid a lack of squad depth that could worsen with injuries this season, with the Blues looking to challenge on all fronts this season in the backdrop of a trophyless 2024-25 campaign.

Pep Guardiola has been forced to rotate Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki for the majority of the campaign already, with the latter having fought a thigh injury at the beginning of his time in England after joining in June from Lyon for £34 million.

To fill those gaps, Manchester City have expressed interest in Zongo, who was the standout performer for Burkina Faso at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar – scoring two goals and providing three assists, as reported by Africa Foot and relayed by Sport Witness.

Other prodigies who have excelled at the CFA are Foden, Nico O’Reilly, Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis, all of which have played first-team minutes on a regular basis for Guardiola’s side in recent seasons. 

Zongo could also trod on the path of academy graduates to have departed City and have since become some of the world’s most sought-after prospects – with Cole Palmer, Morgan Rodgers and Brahim Diaz all hitting their respective peaks after leaving Manchester.

The 15-year-old midfielder would be an excellent investment for City and his versatility, combining creativity and goalscoring threat with a strong defensive work-rate, is inevitably eye-catching in contrast to Guardiola’s philosophy.

Manchester City are not planning to be nearly as active in the January 2026 window as the club were in the summer – but newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana and co will be closely monitoring the market for opportunities that could be deemed too good to pass on.