Arsenal to battle PSG and Bayern for Bundesliga starlet

Tom Hancock

• 18 May 2023 16:41 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal are set to fight it out with European heavyweights PSG and Bayern Munich in the race to secure the services of 16-year-old Freiburg prodigy Noah Darvich.

Darvich has yet to even make his senior debut for Freiburg, but the versatile left-footed attacker’s displays for Germany’s U17 side have caught the eye of some of the continent’s biggest hitters.

The highly-rated youngster opened the scoring as Germany got off to a superb start at the European U17 Championship in Hungary by thrashing Portugal 4-0 on Wednesday.

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According to CaughtOffside, Arsenal are one of two Premier League clubs keeping tabs on Darvich – the other being unnamed.

Should the Gunners make a move, they’ll be hoping for a similar success story to that of Gabriel Martinelli.

Arsenal picked up the forward – who has jointly top-scored for Mikel Arteta’s team this season with 15 goals – from Brazilian outfit Ituano back in 2019, when he was 18.

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Freiburg know keeping Darvich may be easier said than done

It comes as little surprise to see Bayern linked with Darvich: the reigning Bundesliga champions have made a habit of sweeping up top talent from around the rest of the Bundesliga.

As for PSG, the Ligue 1 champions are said to be leaning towards a future policy of promoting youth as they prepare for Lionel Messi to leave this summer – with other superstars such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar following the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner out the Parc des Princes exit door.

Despite the fact that he’s never featured for their first team, Freiburg are said to accept that keeping hold of Darvich – who turns 17 in September – this summer could prove difficult.