Exclusive: Borussia Dortmund set sights on West Ham sensation Emeka Adiele
Borussia Dortmund are setting their sights on signing West Ham youngster Emeka Adiele, sources have told Football Insider.
The 18-year-old has captured the interest of a host of Europe’s top clubs after impressing for the Irons’ Under-21s side this season.
Borussia Dortmund have a proven track record in signing top young English talents and developing them, and they see Adiele as a top target for them.
The attacking left-back, who is an England Under-18 international, has shone with five goals and ten assists in 20 appearances in all competitions this season.
West Ham are pushing to add fresh faces to their first-team squad, but they could risk losing one of their biggest academy talents.
Emeka Adiele to follow well-trodden path to Borussia Dortmund
Football Insider revealed at the start of December that Adiele’s development at West Ham was attracting interest from several of the top clubs in European football.
It is now Borussia Dortmund who are sustaining that interest, as they look to tempt the starlet with a development pathway that has effectively served many talented players before.
The Bundesliga giants famously helped to develop Jude Bellingham into a superstar during his time in Germany, and they are now trying to repeat that same trick with his younger brother Jobe.
They also previously took Jadon Sancho and Jamie Gittens from Manchester City’s academy and helped to turn them into genuine Premier League stars.
Adiele could soon benefit from that same remarkable development if Dortmund try to progress their interest in the coming months.
The exciting starlet is yet to make his first team debut for West Ham, but he has already been earmarked for a huge future at the London Stadium.
West Ham set to pull away from Taylor Harwood-Bellis chase
West Ham are unlikely to make an improved offer for Taylor Harwood-Bellis before Monday’s deadline, despite showing a sustained interest in the Southampton star.
The Irons have chased a move for the centre-back across several recent transfer windows, and recently saw an £18million bid rejected by the Saints for their defender.
Harwood-Bellis has started 24 games in the championship after his team were relegated from the Premier League last term, and it now looks as though an exit for him won’t be on the cards in the final stages of the window.
West Ham are desperately trying to add to their defensive options for the second half of the season, but they look set to face a race against time if they are to add another new face to their group.