Arsenal are keen to sign Leicester City 16-year-old Jeremy Monga this summer, despite the player agreeing professional terms with his current club.
Sam Wallace and Sam Dean report for The Telegraph that Arsenal are showing strong interest in Leicester City’s Jeremy Monga, and the Gunners are long-term admirers of the teenage winger.
Monga has already agreed to sign a professional contract with Leicester when he turns 17 in July, but The Telegraph report that the agreement doesn’t guarantee he won’t leave anyway.
Yet the report also adds that Leicester are hoping to rebuild around their talented youngsters, with Monga foremost among them. It may not be a straightforward task to convince them to sell.
Working in Arsenal’s favour is the fact Leicester are in such a terrible position in the Championship. It’s not just that they long ago missed out on promotion back to the Premier League, but that they’re at very real risk of relegation to League One.
With four games remaining, Leicester are five points behind 21st-place West Bromwich Albion and escape from the relegation zone.
In their final four fixtures, Leicester face two promotion hopefuls (Millwall and Hull City), and two fellow relegation battlers (Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers), all of whom still have everything to play for.
Leicester do have a game in hand on Rovers in 20th, but even a win in that game would leave them needing to make up a four-point gap in the final three matches.
If they go down, Monga’s desire to leave for a Premier League side would surely only grow.
Monga has made nine starts for Leicester in all competitions this season, scoring one goal and assisting two more. He’s also an England u19 international, making 10 appearances for the side this season and playing alongside Max Dowman on a couple of occasions.
Arsenal will likely see how the remainder of Leicester’s season plays out before making their move. A bid in the middle of their relegation fight probably wouldn’t go down well.