Man Utd battle with Ajax over 17-year-old wonderkid

Tom Weber

• Updated: 17 Apr 2023 16:41 BST
• 3 min read

A wonderkid without a senior appearance to his name is taking Turkey by storm and both Manchester United and Ajax want to get their hands on the prodigy.

Efe Akman is the latest hot commodity to emerge from Turkey and he may be the best one yet. Indeed, he is already being dubbed Turkey's greatest-ever talent despite the fact that he has not yet featured for Galatasaray's senior team. If such a label wasn't already enough pressure on the 17-year-old, he is now also being courted by two of Europe's biggest clubs.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, a member of Ajax's technical staff since his retirement last year, was recently in Turkey to watch some of Galatasaray's emerging talents, including Akman. Ajax's track record when it comes to developing young players is impressive, but the Dutch giants are not the only ones said to be taking a keen interest in the teenage sensation.

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Their former coach Erik ten Hag and Manchester United are also monitoring Akman's maturation, according to reports in Turkey. In fact, it is understood that the Red Devils have already established contact with his representatives.

A twist in the tale?

But despite the interest from these two behemoths, signing Akman may not be such a straightforward procedure for them. That's because AS Roma are also believed to be involved in the race to land him and they have essentially called dibs on the youngster, an advantage that neither Ajax nor United can match.

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If reports in Italy are to be believed, Roma managed to procure a special privilege to sign Akman and his teammate Yusuf Demir - if they so desire - when they transferred Nicolo Zaniolo to Galatasaray in the winter transfer window.

Therefore, any concrete approaches for the 17-year-old will have to be registered with the Italian club first before negotiations with the Turkish giants can begin.