-
News
- 58 minutes ago
Chelsea beat Man Utd to wonderkid signing after 'MAJOR' bid
Tom Weber
- 22 Jan 2026 06:06 GMT
- 6 min read
News
Chelsea are on the verge of beating Manchester United to the signing of Sheffield Wednesday wonderkid Yisa Alao.
The 17-year-old has emerged as one of the biggest prospects in the Championship since making his senior debut in August, aged just 16. Alao has since made four more first-team appearances, although the slightly older Harry Amass was ahead of him in the pecking order.
Amass has been recalled by his parent club Man Utd, and will be loaned to Norwich City instead. This could have paved the way for Alao to make more appearances for Wednesday, but The Athletic reports that he, too, is expected to leave the club this month.
His limited minutes have already been enough to convince bigger sides to take a chance on him, with Wednesday's administration surely also playing its part in attracting poachers.
Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool have all been monitoring his progress in recent months. The Red Devils made a bid for Alao shortly before Christmas, but £450,000 (€517k) was deemed insufficient to prise him away.
Chelsea set to win Alao race
It is now claimed that Chelsea have all but won the race for the teenage left-back. The Blues are set to beat Man Utd to his signature after making an offer north of £1 million (€1.15m) with "major" add-ons.
His signing is on the verge of being finalised. Alao is likely to slot into Chelsea's academy, unless they opt to loan him out. The 17-year-old is viewed as a hugely exciting talent with excellent physical attributes.
Unless Man Utd launch a significant last-ditch offensive, Chelsea will secure his services. Liverpool monitored the youngster but seemingly refrained from making a bid.
He would become the latest in a long list of wonderkids to have joined Chelsea in recent windows, although it could take some time for him to make his first-team debut for his new club. The Blues are well-stocked in the left-back department.
Football transfer news headlines today
EXCLUSIVE: Jean-Philippe Mateta agrees Aston Villa terms as Chelsea make contact
EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd hold talks over Rashford return and target €75m Spain star
DONE DEALS: Every official completed transfer around Europe today
TRANSFER RUMOURS: Man Utd launch bid for Barca star as Arsenal eye Real Madrid raid
The FootballTransfers app
Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.
The FootballTransfers app is available on Google Play and in the Apple App Store. Download here:
