Sources: Bayern Munich in pole position to sign Chukwuemeka with Aston Villa in desperate battle to keep him
Bayern Munich are in pole position to sign Aston Villa sensation Carney Chukwuemeka this summer, Football Insider understands.
The 17-year-old midfielder's Villa future is in major doubt despite Dean Smith claiming the club have a clear plan for his development into a first-team star.
A Villa source has told Football Insider that Chukwuemeka is being chased by multiple elite clubs including Bayern, Liverpool and Man City.
The German giants are currently the favourites to land the teenage midfielder and are ready to step up their chase in the coming weeks.
Villa do not want to lose Chukwuemeka, who signed his first professional contract last October as soon as he turned 17.
That runs for three years - the maximum permitted - and they will look to tie him to a new deal when he is 18 in six months' time.
But by that point it could be too late for the Midlands giants, who are in an increasingly difficult battle to keep a player who chief executive Christian Purslow described last year as "probably the best 16-year-old in England".
He is being talked about in the same breath as Jude Bellingham, who quit city rivals Birmingham City for Borussia Dortmund last summer and is already an established first teamer.
Chukwuemeka is still waiting for his senior debut but is edging closer after being named on the sub's bench for two Premier League matches in recent months.
Born in Austria to Nigerian parents, he has been training with Villa’s first team since early December.