West Ham are set to battle it out with London rivals Chelsea and Portuguese giants Porto as the eye a move for RB Leipzig’s promising English talent Matthew Bondswell in January, according to Football Insider.
The two London clubs are reportedly hoping that they can lure the 18-year-old back to his homeland as they seek to bolster their youth ranks.
A recruitment source told Football Insider that Porto have turned their attention to the young left-back as they prepare to line him up as a replacement to their own prospect in Nuno Mendes, who himself could leave in the January window.
The English youth international moved to the Bundesliga side from Nottingham Forest in 2018, when he joined up with the Leipzig academy at the Red Bull Arena. He forms part of a wave of English talents to have moved abroad, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho and PSV Eindhoven’s Noni Madueke being some of the notable youngsters to move to mainland Europe from English academies in search of better first team opportunities.
Bondswell’s experience of first team football is limited but the teenager is currently on a loan spell with Dutch second division side FC Dordrecht in search of more minutes. He has made seven appearances, of which six have come as a member of the starting XI (Transfermarkt).
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Investing in home-grown youth is rarely a bad thing, and Bondswell is no exception.
However, Porto appear to be a particularly ravenous suitor for the starlet’s services given the increased sense of urgency over the belief that they are set to lose one of their own key prospects in the winter window.
That may prove to be the crucial edge in the battle to procure the services of the youngster. An obvious pathway to first team football may prove too lucrative a prospect to ignore – something he might not get at West Ham with the resurgence of Aaron Cresswell and regularity of Arthur Masuaku’s game-time.
