Chelsea faces competition from several clubs for 19-year-old England prodigy

Transfer News: Chelsea battle Manchester United to sign Birmingham City centre-back Nico Gordon

According to Nathan Gissing on Twitter (h/t Football.London), Chelsea will face off against Manchester United to secure the services of Birmingham City centre-back Nico Gordon ahead of the summer transfer window. He is highly regarded as one of the best talents of his age and is touted to become a future superstar.

Gordon has broken into the first-team set-up at Birmingham this season, and he has earned rave reviews for his excellent displays. He is still considered to be a future superstar in the making at this stage despite his subdued performance in the 2-0 loss to Nottingham Forest recently.

That has seen the Englishman attract a host of attention from several clubs, including the Blues and Man United. They are not the only sides from the “Big 6” clubs from the Premier League, as Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are keeping tabs on his situation as well at this moment.

Transfer News: Chelsea battle Manchester United to sign Birmingham City centre-back Nico Gordon. (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Arsenal and Tottenham also identify Nico Gordon as a transfer target. (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Who is Nico Gordon?

A natural centre-back, the 19-year-old has shown all the signs to become a defensive powerhouse in the future. The starlet primarily plays as a left-sided central defender, which makes him suitable for the three at the back system used by Thomas Tuchel. That being said, the youngster would probably join our academy system initially before jumping to the first team.

The Championship defender is also versatile enough to play as a fullback when needed further, making him a perfect fit for Tuchel’s tactics. That indicates how the young prospect is comfortable dealing with large spaces, which is something that our wide centre-backs commonly deal with in the senior team.

Perhaps Gordon’s suitability could explain why our scouts have attended his last three games for Birmingham. It remains to be seen if we will receive any updates on their assessments in the coming days or not. After all, the degree of our interest would probably depend on whether he has been able to impress the scouts present at those matches.

The Birmingham ace also has a contract until 2023, which makes him a suitable target as he will enter the final year of his deal at the end of this season. Perhaps, his side could potentially be forced to part ways with him this summer amidst interest from all these clubs.

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After all, keeping hold of Gordon could result in losing him for free in the future if an extension cannot be agreed upon. It will be interesting to see how this situation will turn out in the coming months ahead of this summer. He could be a perfect addition for us in the future when the likes of Thiago Silva and Cesar Azpilicueta eventually leave in the future.

As such, it would be best to sign Gordon up ahead and get him used to the West London side. Whether that will happen or not remains to be seen.