Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa’s Carney Chukwuemeka, a teenager they were linked with a little over a year ago.

Now 18, Carney Chukwuemeka is a central midfielder who is under contract until 2023 with Aston Villa.

According to the Evening Standard, Chukwuemeka, who has played 188 Premier League minutes this season, Arsenal have been scouting the midfielder along with Palmerias’ Danilo as they look to reinforce that area of the pitch.

December 2020

Arsenal were interested in Aston Villa 17-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka earlier this year, before he signed his first professional contract.

Writing for The Athletic, David Ornstein claims Arsenal were one of a few big-six clubs to show an interest in Aston Villa 17-year-old Carney Chukwuemeka before he signed his professional contract in October.

Villa are currently very keen to capitalise on the talent in their academy, so they’re on a drive to tie down and hold onto as many of their top young players. Not exactly surprising in the current financial circumstances, where signing new players is more difficult.

As a result, there’s no chance Arsenal bring the player in during the winter window. Now that he has a professional contract, it’s going to be a lot harder to lure the midfielder away at all, at least for a couple of years.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will join Arsenal in regretting their failure to convince Chukwuemeka to turn Villa down if he goes on to break through to senior football in the next few years.

Currently playing for the Villa u23s, Chukwuemeka has made nine appearances and provided a couple of assists this season.