Manchester City have responded to Chelsea making an enquiry for one of their players by expressing interest in Stamford Bridge starlet Josh Acheampong, it has been revealed.
Man City and Chelsea have completed several deals with each other in recent years. Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling both left City for Chelsea, while Mateo Kovacic headed in the opposite direction.
City are brilliant at either producing or snapping up the best young players around and Chelsea are big admirers of this. Palmer, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia and Jamie Gittens are just some of the City academy graduates Chelsea have captured.
Enzo Maresca’s side looked to repeat this process recently by registering their interest in City star Rico Lewis. It emerged at the start of the week that Chelsea have made an enquiry to see if they can sign Lewis from City this summer.
Instead, Lewis could join Nottingham Forest – more on that later – but City have retaliated by making Chelsea aware of their interest in Acheampong.
As per The Guardian, City are among a number of Premier League clubs who are keen on the right-back after being impressed by his development.
Newcastle United are ‘monitoring the situation’, while Bournemouth have had a loan approach rejected. Crystal Palace and West Ham United have scouted Acheampong, too.
However, Maresca is a big fan of Acheampong and is set to tell the Chelsea board to keep the 19-year-old.
He wants to help Acheampong take his game to the next level, with a view to the teenager eventually challenging for a starting spot in west London.
Returning to Lewis, Forest have had an opening bid for the 20-year-old rejected, according to Fabrizio Romano.
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Forest target Rico Lewis after James McAtee
Forest remain in talks with City and are confident that Lewis wants to join them this summer.
They are set to return with a new offer as they look to get closer to City’s asking price.
Lewis could follow James McAtee to the City Ground. Forest have agreed a £30m deal with City to sign McAtee.
City will receive an initial £22m for the attacking midfielder, while add-ons and a sell-on clause could take that fee up to the £30m mark.
Pep Guardiola’s side have also included a buy-back clause as they want to protect themselves in case McAtee goes on to become a top-class star in the future.
City often use the sales of academy graduates to help fund first-team additions. Gianluigi Donnarumma could be the next statement signing made by City, as he has been told he is free to leave Paris Saint-Germain.
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