Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly the latest two clubs to show an interest in signing Swedish attacking starlet Jonah Kusi-Asare.
The 16-year-old arrived at the AIK Fotboll academy last winter and has already earned promotion to their senior squad, playing four matches off the bench in the 2023 Allsvenskan season.
Kusi-Asare's first-team debut for AIK came in a 3-0 win over Varbergs BoIS in August 2023, making him the club's youngest-ever player at 16 years, one month and 24 days.
A physically intimidating striker, Kusi-Asare - who was born in 2007 - already stands at 6ft 5in tall, and he is the son of former Sweden Under-21 striker Jones Kusi-Asare, who represented several clubs in the country during his career.
Back in September, Kusi-Asare enjoyed a dream debut for Sweden's Under-17s, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 European Championship qualifying win over Moldova, and he is believed to have caught Bayern's eye.
AIK have Kusi-Asare under contract for another two-and-a-half years, but the Swedish side may be facing a losing battle to retain his services as more European heavyweights come calling.
According to HITC Football, Man United and Chelsea have now joined the race to sign the youngster, with both sides' scouts having been left highly impressed with his displays in recent months.
AIK are supposedly prepared to cash in on Kusi-Asare in the near future given his rising stock and the calibre of clubs interested in him, offering the Swedish side hope of an intense bidding war.
However, the report adds that Bayern remain the favourites to sign the Scandinavian sensation this year, and the German champions have already come forward with their first official bid for his services.
A plethora of other clubs have also taken notice of Kusi-Asare's rapid rise, though, including Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, PSV Eindhoven and Ajax, although none of those teams could stump up a financial package to match their Premier League rivals.
Both Man United and Chelsea bolstered their attacking ranks with youthful acquisitions over the summer, with the Red Devils capturing Rasmus Hojlund while the Blues added Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Deivid Washington to their squad.
However, the two clubs have both been tipped to sign yet another marksman in 2024, with Chelsea in particular said to be prioritising another forward option given their ongoing shortages.
Senegal's Jackson will be away at the Africa Cup of Nations for a number of weeks, while Nkunku has come down with a new hip problem just after recovering from a troublesome knee injury.
A big-money striker is unlikely to arrive during the January window, but Napoli's Victor Osimhen, Brentford's Ivan Toney and Feyenoord's Santiago Gimenez are believed to be on their shortlist of summer targets. body check tags ::
