Chelsea and Liverpool are both interested in signing young Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ismael Gharbi this summer with the 17-year-old's contract set to expire at the end of the season.
Gharbi has frequently found himself involved with the first team this season, even being pictured with Lionel Messi after the Argentinian made the move to France during last summer. He has previously been described by Mauricio Pochettino as a 'crack' in the past, the French term for an 'undeniable talent'.
But first-team opportunities have remained limited, with Gharbi returning to the youth set-up to play games before training with the likes of Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar again. But with fellow youth graduates Edouard Michut and Xavi Simmons ahead of him in the pecking order, speculation over his future has increased.
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As per a report from GOAL, Chelsea and Liverpool have started to monitor the situation of Gharbi with a bargain transfer potentially on the horizon come the summer. Pochettino remains a big fan of the youngster, but with the manager's own future far from secure, that faith may ultimately count for little.
At just 17, there are sure to be plenty of suitors for Gharbi should he become available in the summer. With Chelsea's own financial situation looking unstable, securing bargains such as this could be a clever way for Thomas Tuchel to continue to move his side forward.
Gharbi's former coach Guillaume Serra previously offered insight into the player, telling RMC, via GOAL: "He is capable of playing in the middle, but also out wide where he can then drift towards goal. He has a keen sense of when faced with the goal, too. But he also has a lot of room for improvement in positional play and transition phases."
