Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal have all offered contracts to Melayro Bogarde, nephew of former Chelsea defender Winston, with the defender free to sign his first professional deal when he turns 16 on 28 May.
Liverpool and Chelsea are also monitoring the Feyenoord defender, though neither club has opened negotiations.
Bogarde is considered one of Europe’s prime talents due to his physique, height and ball-playing skills, with Pep Guardiola viewing him as having a similar technical potential to John Stones, who he signed in the summer of 2016.
The Manchester City manager has invited Bogarde to visit the club’s City Football Academy facility and Bogarde has received similar invitations from Arsenal and United, who enjoy good relations with Feyenoord. Two years ago, United signed Tahith Chong from the Dutch side, with the Caracao-born winger winning the Jimmy Murphy youth team player of the year award this month.
Due to his age negotiations for Bogarde’s signature could not begin until he was 15½. These are now advanced regarding City, United and Liverpool with the player expected to choose the club he believes will offer the best chance of him progressing to the first team.United’s Dutch scout, Henny de Regt, hired by the club when Louis van Gaal was manager, has been monitoring Bogarde all season, as have his counterparts from City and Liverpool.
RB Leipzig, who are sixth in the Bundesliga, also retain a firm interest. Paul Mitchell, their head of recruitment, watched Bogarde around a fortnight ago when Feyenoord U17s played Ajax U17s. Mitchell held a similar role at Tottenham before leaving for Leipzig this year.