Man Utd and Man City go head to head in transfer race for Aston Villa wonderkid

Manchester United and Manchester City are reportedly both tracking highly-rated Aston Villa wonderkid Carney Chukwuemeka.

The 17-year-old is extremely well thought of at the Midlands club, but is yet to make his senior debut.

Chukwuemeka was an unused substitute for the defeat to City in midweek and Dean Smith could give him a chance before the end of the season.

Smith name checked the youngster last week as one of a number of exciting talents in the club’s academy system.

"Age-teamed football is obviously very different to open-age football. The FA Youth Cup, we've got a great young crop, and our lads are into the quarter-finals now and deservedly so,” he explained.

"We're doing well and our academy is thriving again which is what we wanted and Louie (Barry) is one of a few with Carney and Aaron Ramsey. We've got Jacob Ramsey in our team at the moment and Kaine Kesler.

"We've got a lot of players who are progressing but the Premier League is a massive jump and they have to be showing that when they're training with our first-team group as well."

Speaking last year, Villa CEO Christian Purslow described the midfielder as “the best 16-year-old in England”, despite the presence of Jude Bellingham at local rivals Birmingham City.

“We need to be higher in recruiting the best eight-year-old, nine-year-old, 10-year-old, 11-year-old, 12-year-old, 14, 16, one a year that makes it and gets a professional contract at 16,” Purslow told an AGM in 2020.

“I want that player. We have one right now, probably the best 16-year-old in England, Carney (Chukwuemeka). Absolutely no debate, he’s starting for the U23s.

“That’s what you want with your 16-year-olds.”

According to the Guardian, both Manchester clubs are tracking the Austrian-born star’s progress, with a host of clubs across Europe doing the same.

Before he signed his first professional contract last year, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Juventus were also credited with an interest – while RB Leipzig, Monaco and PSV are keeping tabs now.

Both City and United have built extremely exciting academy sides, with a number of players in line for a promotion.

For Pep Guardiola’s side, there is the belief that Liam Delap could make the step up next season, while the likes of Shola Shoretire, Hannibal Mejbri, Joe Hugill and Charlie McNeill are rated highly at Old Trafford.

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