Carney Chukwuemeka is a real prospect.

The Aston Villa central midfielder is just 17 but is slowly and steadily working his way through the youth ranks at the club.

He has made 19 appearances for the club’s U18 side, and has also played 16 times for the U23s.

The Times now reports that he is seen as a potential star of the future, having made the jump to Dean Smith’s first-team squad last summer.

Christian Purslow, the Villa chief executive, has previously touted Chukwuemeka as “probably the best 16-year-old in England”, per the report.

Now it seems vultures are circling.

While he did sign a three-year contract at the club in October as he turned 17, Manchester United and Liverpool are both interested in signing him, as are Manchester City, Juventus, and Bayern Munich.

Villa believe he can be the next big thing and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho by making the leap to first-team football.

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

The report claims that he should have made his debut earlier this season but the COVID-19 outbreak at the club saw him go into isolation.

Having signed his new deal, there will be a hope at Villa that he remains at the club for the foreseeable future.

But the 17-year-old is clearly turning heads and the interest of the likes of United and City will be setting alarm bells ringing.

One has to feel that Smith should really be exposing him to first-team football so that he sees a genuine future at the club.