Chelsea leading race to sign 16-year-old ahead of Man City & Man United

Chelsea are the favourites to sign highly-rated young midfielder Mohamed Zongo despite competition from Manchester City and Manchester United, according to reports.

As mentioned by various reports, Chelsea are unlikely to enter the January transfer market for first-team players, but will instead set their focus on acquiring more young prospects.

Having reportedly reached an agreement for Ecuadorian teenager Deinner Ordonez last month, Chelsea have now been linked to another 16-year-old.

According to the Daily Mail, Chelsea are currently working on a deal to sign Burkina Faso youngster Mohamed Zongo.

The teenager currently plays for local club Sporting Cascades Tenakourou as a left-footed attacking midfielder, who can also play on the right flank.

Zongo caught a lot of attention with his performance for Burkina Faso in the Under-17 World Cup held in Qatar in November, in which he helped his country reach the quarter-finals, beating the odds.

The young midfielder scored both in the round of 32 against Germany and the round of 16 against Uganda.

The report mentions that aside from Manchester City and Manchester United, Zongo has also drawn attention from Villarreal and Anderlecht, but Chelsea are seen as leading the race to his signature.

However, Zongo just turned 16 over a week ago, so if he were to sign for Chelsea, he would have to wait at least another two years, until he is 18, before being allowed to move to London as per the rules.

Chelsea already have several incoming signings lined up for the future, and the most exciting among them is arguably Geovany Quenda, who currently plays for Sporting.

The 18-year-old is expected to be integrated into Enzo Maresca's first team squad when he joins next summer.