Chidera Ejike: Liverpool overtake Manchester City in pursuit of Nigerian youth star

Liverpool are new favourites to sign Nigerian starlet Chidera Ejike. Manchester City have kept a close eye on the 18-year-old attacking midfielder's progress at the Gee-Lec academy, but are yet to make a move for the highly rated youngster.

Their loss could be Liverpool's gain though, with Ejike's intermediary Babawo Mohammed telling allnigeriasoccer.com the youngster will soon travel to England for a trial with the Merseyside club.

"We waited for Manchester City and they did not get back to us. So I went to Liverpool and introduced Ejike to them and they gave us an invitation for a two-week trial. He is going to Liverpool next month for trials."

Major clubs across Europe have looked to young Nigerian options in recent months following the country's success at the Under-17 World Cup in November 2015.

Arsenal are expected to finalise deals for both Kelechi Nwakali and Samuel Chukwueze, with Arsene Wenger confirming in January the club were hopeful of resolving work permit and medical issues to sign up the pair.

Sixteen-year-old midfielder Chukwueze was given a British entry visa allowing him to complete his move in February, while 17-year-old Nwakali, who won the Golden Ball award at November's tournament in Chile, revealed he has signed a five-year-contract with the Gunners.

Wenger said of Nwakali in January: "We identified him [Nwakali] after he won player of the tournament [at the under-17 World Cup], he is a top player, we will see if we can manage to get it over the line."

Victor Osimhen, who finished as the Under-17 World Cup's top goal scorer with a haul of 10, has also been snapped up by a major European club, with Wolfsburg agreeing a deal to sign the striker on 1 January 2017.