Chelsea have reportedly rejected an offer Arsenal made to sign Freddy Bernal.
Bernal, 16, is said to have been the subject of a £1.25million bid from the Gunners. The reputed reasoning behind turning down their advances is that the Blues want to keep the goalkeeper. They are supposedly clear on that position amid apparent interest from several other clubs in the teenager.
London-based talent representation agency, ARETE, announced in late January that Bernal had become their newest client. They also represent several past and present Arsenal academy graduates, including Arthur Okonkwo, Brian Okonkwo, Charles Sagoe Jr, Ethan Ross, Michal Rosiak and Nico Yennaris.
Bernal has trained with the Chelsea first team this season after debuting for the under-18s earlier in the campaign. The player has now made five appearances at that level while also playing regularly for the under-17s in the academy.
After debuting in a 4-2 defeat against Crystal Palace in December, the goalkeeper was on the bench for a 4-3 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in late January before starting their next match, a 3-1 victory versus Leicester City. Bernal was back in for the 4-2 win over West Bromwich Albion in early March.
Last month, the player started consecutive under-18s matches for the first time. After being back in for a 4-3 victory over Southampton, he remained in the line-up three days later when they lost 1-0 to Fulham.
Last season, Bernal was part of the Under-15s Premier League Floodlit Super Cup-winning team, the club's first triumph since 2018. They won 5-3 against Leeds United in the final at Kingsmeadow Stadium after at one stage being 2-1 behind
Fabrizio Romano reports Arsenal's bid for the England youth international. Bernal has played three times for the country's under-17s, most recently during back-to-back friendlies against the Netherlands in February.
However, the goalkeeper did not feature for Neil Ryan in any of their three European Under-17 Championship qualification games in March. That was because Bernal was with the under-18s, being on the bench for a trio of friendlies against the Czech Republic, France and Portugal.