West Ham are facing a fight to keep hold of teen prodigy Ajibola Alese after Manchester City and Liverpool reportedly entered the race to sign him.
The Sun has claimed that the 16-year-old - viewed as one of the hottest prospects in his age group - has alerted the two Premier League giants following a number of impressive performances for the Hammers' Under-18 team this term.
West Ham are desperate to fend off interest in their talented teenager from would-be suitors, and first team boss Slaven Bilic has taken a keen interest in Alese's development with the hope that his advice and guidance will ensure that the defender remains at the London Stadium.
City and Liverpool want to sign West Ham & England U16 defender Ajibola Alese (16), rated as one of England's best young talents. [The Sun] pic.twitter.com/xCmiohZXYe
However, the lure of City and Liverpool could prove to be too much for the youngster and, with Alese still on scholarship terms at the Irons, the pair could swoop him up on a professional contract when Alese turns 17.
Both the Citizens and the Reds are allegedly in the middle of mammoth recruitment drives for their respective youth academies, and both harbour hopes of hoovering up the best available talent in the UK and overseas as they look ahead to the next big stars within the game.
Alese is on each club's shortlist of emerging talents and, if West Ham plan on keeping hold of their youth product, the Londoners will have to beat City and Liverpool to the punch in offering him professional terms as soon as is possible.
If Alese decides to remain with the Hammers, his path to the first-team squad could be in a similar vein to that experienced by Domingos Quina this season.
The 17-year-old moved to West Ham from Chelsea last summer, and has already featured for the first-team during the 2016/17 campaign. The Portuguese midfielder made cameo appearances from the bench during the club's ill-fated Europa League qualification match against NK Domzale back in August, as well as playing 62 minutes of the shock 4-2 EFL Cup defeat to Coventry City.
Alese, who was born to Nigeria parents, is also the subject of intense speculation over committing his future to the English national team after featuring for them at Under-15 level.
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