Chelsea have entered the race to sign highly rated United States U17 international centre-forward Malik Jakupovic from Philadelphia Union, according to TEAMtalk.
Jakupovic has emerged as one of the most exciting American prospects, alongside FC Dallas’ Benji Flowers and Philadelphia’s Cavan Sullivan, who have reportedly reached pre-agreements with Chelsea and Manchester City, respectively.
Despite only officially signing for Philadelphia’s academy just over a year ago, he has taken no time to settle, netting 11 goals in 36 games for the youth side.
He particularly came to the limelight during the regional CONCACAF qualifying rounds for the FIFA U17 World Cup, where he showed remarkable goalscoring prowess. He finished as the highest scorer of the qualifiers after netting eight goals in three games, including a five-goal haul in the 10-0 thumping of Saint Kitts and Nevis earlier this year.
After prolific goalscoring form for both club and country at youth level, Jakupovic made his senior Philadelphia debut in the 7–0 Concacaf Champions Cup win over Defence Force FC in February.
Since then, the youngster has made 11 more appearances and netted his first goal for the club in September to take his overall tally this campaign to six goal contributions in all competitions, and his displays have caught the eye of several clubs.
One club now showing interest in Jakupovic is Chelsea, according to TEAMtalk, which claims the London giants have entered the race to sign the exciting centre-forward.
Exciting attacker
Still, a deal won’t be easy, as the report adds that Philadelphia are in a strong position, having only recently extended the youngster’s contract, and will only sanction his departure if they receive double-figure offers.
Chelsea have shown in recent years that they aren’t afraid to spend cash on exciting prospects. They agreed to pay Dallas £8m, including add-ons, to sign 15-year-old Flowers, so there’s an expectation the club may not have much trouble submitting a tempting bid for Jakupovic.
However, the Blues are set to face stern competition, with TEAMtalk adding that RB Salzburg, VfB Stuttgart, AS Monaco, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund, who saw their £2.5m offer rejected, are also in the race to sign the 6ft 3in attacking ace.
Jakupovic’s emergence on Chelsea’s radar fits the club’s wider recruitment model under Clearlake, which places considerable emphasis on signing and developing promising young prospects.
That focus remained evident during the recently concluded summer transfer window, when they brought in Harrison Bettoni from Wigan and Scottish centre-back Alfie Osborne from Hearts.
Jakupovic would be another exciting addition to Chelsea’s ever-growing talent pool, but whether they can beat competition from other interested clubs remains to be seen.
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