Swansea City close to beating Man United, Spurs, West Ham and Rangers for ex-Chelsea wonderkid compared to Eden Hazard
The youngster looks set to join the club's highly-rated academy set-up
By Tom Coleman
Tuesday 19th May 2020
Swansea City are close to beating several top clubs to the signature of highly-rated Nigerian youngster Adrian Akande.
The 16-year-old, who initially came through the ranks at Crystal Palace before moving to Chelsea, reportedly snubbed the chance to sign a scholarship at Stamford Bridge, and has since been linked with Manchester United, Rangers, Tottenham, and Hoffenheim.
The highly-rated winger, who despite an approach from the English FA has declared himself to play for Nigeria, was also on trial with West Ham before the new year, but is now appears to be closing in on a deal with Swansea.
A club source has said that the Swans are hopeful of bringing him on board, with recruitment for academy scholars pressing on as normal, despite the disruption of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
There has been some suggestion that the teenager is impressed by Swansea's record in developing youngsters, and a move could well be confirmed soon.
It would be something of a coup for the Swans, with the player's agent, Tobi Alabi comparing the attacker to two of the game's biggest stars.
He told allnigeriasoccer last year: "He plays like Hazard and Barcelona's Dembele. He is two-footed, very quick and strong on the ball. He can score the same, with both right foot and left foot and he is a hard worker.
"He has no weaknesses. I saw a mention that defensively he isn’t strong but he’s not a defender, he’s an attacker so his defensive capabilities aren’t important, of course he will work hard for his team but he’s not a defender."
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