Manchester City and Chelsea have been sending scouts to all of Honest Ahanor’s games for Atalanta this season, according to reports.
The Italian-born Nigerian only made the switch to Bergamo for €20m (£17.5m) in the summer, but TEAMtalk claim he is already attracting interest from clubs across Europe.
A source told the website that City and Chelsea have been “ever-present” at Ahanor’s matches since his move from Genoa, and he is regarded as a “huge talent”.
Most Read on Man City News
In addition to those two teams, the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham, Newcastle, Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich have also been keeping tabs on the 17-year-old’s progress.
What do Man City fans need to know about the player?
Ahanor came through Genoa’s youth ranks before making his first-team debut against Juventus in September last year. A knee injury kept him sidelined for the majority of the 2024/25 season, but he did make five more appearances before the end of the campaign.
Atalanta took a gamble by paying a sizeable sum for the teenager’s services back in July and he has gone on to make 13 appearances for the Serie A club. He has been exclusively deployed as a centre-half so far but he can play at left-back or in a holding midfield role if required.
Ahanor won’t be leaving Italy until next summer
The defender turns 18 after the January transfer window, so there is no chance that City will be able to secure his signature next month. Due to Brexit rules, teams in the UK are not allowed to sign foreign players below the age of 18.
There are ways around this rule, such as securing a pre-agreement to sign him on a future date, but you can’t see Atalanta being amenable to that, considering they only recruited Ahanor just over six months ago.
Read more about the Man City First Team Squad for 2025/26 here