Chelsea ready to beat Spurs to signing of teenage midfielder

Chelsea and Tottenham are locked in a battle to sign highly-rated Northern Irish prospect Charlie Allen.

The talented midfielder, just 15, has already played for Linfield’s first team and Spurs are reportedly looking to snap him up.

He has had a trial at the North London club and is believed to have impressed.

However, Football Insider say Chelsea have “ambushed” Spurs’ attempts to sign him and have also offered him a trial.

A Chelsea source has apparently told the website that the Blues are looking to beat their London rivals to the signing of Allen, who has also attracted strong interest from Manchester City.

He has spent time training with City, while a number of other Premier League clubs are believed to have been monitoring his progress in recent months.

Allen became Linfield’s youngest-ever player when he made his first-team debut for the club in their final game of last season and he has continued to progress.

Linfield have developed a number of players in recent years, including Northern Ireland international forward Paul Smyth, who was snapped up by QPR after several other clubs made attempts to sign him.

Now it appears that Allen could be heading to London as well.