Chelsea and Barcelona to fight for Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid Atakan Akkaynak
CHELSEA are ready to go head-to-head with Barcelona for Bayer Leverkusen wonderkid Atakan Akkaynak, according to reports.
The Express are claiming that the Blues have sent scouts to watch the young German in action and could make a bid for him in January.
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But they face competition from La Liga giants Barca, who have been keeping an eye on Akkaynak, 18, development for over a year.
And the report suggests that Leverkusen could be interested in cashing in on Akkaynak with his current contract running until 2019.
Akkaynak is yet to play for the first team but that has not stopped some of Europe's elite from watching his progress.
The Germany Under-19 international holds duel citizenship with Turkey but opted to not win a full cap with the national team in favour of the World Cup winners.
Akkaynak is able to play in both defensive and attacking midfield which gives him great promise to other teams.
But he could struggle for first team opportunities at Barca and Chelsea.
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The Blues bought Danny Drinkwater and Tiemoue Bakayoko in the summer while they still have Cesc Fabregas and N'Golo Kante in midfield.
But he could be seen as Nemanja Matic‘s replacement at Chelsea after he left to join Manchester United for £40million.
And Barcelona still have the likes of Ivan Rakitic, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets in the heart of their team.
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