Manchester City face transfer battle with Chelsea and Barcelona for Leicester forward | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City are believed to be in a race to sign one of Leicester City’s most exciting attacking prospects, according to a new report.

Etihad Stadium bosses are currently in the process of refreshing Pep Guardiola’s first-team playing squad which is significantly underperforming and at risk of dropping out of the UEFA Champions League for next season.

The latest downer on the campaign came on Wednesday night as another drab performance had City on the receiving end of a heavy loss, as Real Madrid made it a 6-3 aggregate victory over Pep Guardiola’s side in a 3-1 Santiago Bernabeu win.

That result sends Manchester City crashing out of the competition before the last-16 stage for the first time since the 2012/13 campaign, leaving them with just the FA Cup as their only opportunity for silverware this season.

And club officials are aware of the concerning downfall in showings as they look to equip Manchester City for a new era across both its first-team operation and academy squads through new names and fresh talents.

That search has now led the Premier League giants to one of their fellow English top-flight sides and one of the most exciting names currently emerging in the game – recognised by a number of leading sides.

According to the information of MailSport’s Tom Collomosse, Manchester City and Chelsea are among the ‘leading European clubs’ keeping a close eye on Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga, who is already training regularly with the first team at just 15 years-old.

It is further claimed that European giants Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona have also made enquiries about the teenager, who can play in other roles across the front line in addition to his preference of being a wide winger.

Monga was recently included in the Leicester City squad for their FA Cup tie at Manchester United, and is already an England Under-16 international regarded as one of the best prospects the King Power Stadium side have produced.

However, it must be noted that players cannot sign a professional contract with any club before they turn 17 years of age, and as such Jeremy Monga will not reach that age until July 2030.

Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy recently noted the exceptional abilities of Leicester to produce young talents as he said earlier this month, “This club is a great pathway for young talents to get first-team training, first-team football in the Premier League at a young age.

“There are not many clubs who can offer that. There’s a great academy here and I look inside to strengthen. When players are good enough, the age doesn’t matter to me, and they can help the squad and the team.”