Teenage centre-back Cassiano Kiala, 16, is highly-rated at Bayern Munich and has been included on Vincent Kompany's bench on seven occasions already this season
Cassiano Kiala
Cassiano Kiala is one of Bayern Munich's best young prospects
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Kiala is close to making his first-team breakthrough in Bavaria and internally, is widely regarded as one of club's most-promising young talents alongside attacking superstar Lennart Karl.
The Germany U17 international has been an unused substitute for Bayern on seven separate occasions already this season and has been a regular in first-team training since the back end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Additionally, the versatile gem, who can also operate as a defensive midfielder, was part of Bayern's travelling squad for last summer's Club World Cup in the United States.
However, that hasn't stopped English clubs from keeping tabs on Kiala, who is being tipped for a huge future in the game due to his technical quality and ball-playing ability.
It's understood the player's father flew to London on Friday evening from Germany for a whistle-stop visit to England, where he met with both Chelsea and City for private discussions before returning to Munich on Saturday.
City in particular, are said to be strongly interested, though Brexit regulations mean Premier League clubs are prohibited from signing foreign talent until they have reached the age of 18.
In this case, talks appear to be centred around building a relationship for the future. Kiala does not turn 18 until January 11, 2027 and his current contract with Bayern is due to run until June of the same year.
Cassiano Kiala
Cassiano Kiala is being tracked by Chelsea and Manchester City
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It's believed the Bundesliga champions want to keep the former Hertha Berlin youth starlet at all costs.
Bayern have huge confidence Kiala will become a first-team regular under Kompany and there's been a notable recent push within the club to integrate more homegrown talent in a bid to create more stars and role models like Thomas Muller and Jamal Musiala.
Winger Karl, who has scored six goals and registered two assists in all competitions, is the latest shining light from Bayern's famous 'Campus' to flourish after being handed first-team opportunities.
Kiala received glowing praise from fellow Bayern defender Jonathan Tah after impressing in pre-season friendlies against Tottenham and Lyon.
When asked whether Kiala possessed the quality to help Bayern this season, Tah responded: "He absolutely has that. He's fast, good with the ball, and brave. He's a top-class centre-back."
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