According to The Sun, Chelsea and Manchester City are ready to battle it out to sign Sunderland’s 17-year-old old midfielder Bali Mumba.
The England U18 international signed his first professional contract a few days back but the Premier League giants are ready to entice him with a lucrative contract. In fact, Manchester City are willing to offer as much as £2.5 million for the teenager.
Sunderland have had a torrid time in recent seasons with the Black Cats facing back-to-back relegations. However, 17-year-old Bali Mumba is perhaps the only silver lining to all the all black clouds that are looming over the club’s future.
As Chelsea and Manchester City some sniffing around like sharks, let us take a look at one of England’s prodigious young talents, Sunderland’s Bali Mumba.
Bali Mumba is a product of Sunderland’s youth academy and made his professional debut in the last game of the 2017-18 EFL Championship against Wolves.
He rewrote the pages of history just as he entered the field in the 87th-minute. John O’Shea was the man coming off and to everyone’s surprise, the legendary Irishman handed the captain’s armband to him.
That was a clear statement of intent by the club that he was a kid who was destined for greatness and they considered Mumba their prized asset.
Mumba has made only four appearances in League One this season and he definitely looks good for many more.
Bali Mumba is a defensive midfielder by trade even though he can play in a more advanced box-to-box role. He has a decent technique for a player of his age and covers ground very quickly to cope with the opposition’s attacks.
A good reader of the game, Mumba is adept at cutting out the attacks from a deep position in the midfield and is quite precise with his tackles. He is very agile and doesn’t hesitate to stick his foot out when needed.
The 17-year-old is also comfortable in possession and likes to keep things ticking in midfield with his good range of passing. He can also contribute to the attack by carrying the ball forward with pace.
It is quite fascinating to imagine the future of a 16-year-old kid wearing the captain’s armband. Mumba is yet to make his mark in League One but will be expected to play a more significant role later in the campaign.
With Manchester City willing to splash £2.5 million to sign him at this stage of his career, Mumba is definitely a player with a massive potential. He is still very much in the developmental stage of his career and is far from the finished product.
He still has a long way to go but going by whatever he has shown so far, Bali Mumba has all the talent in the world to make it big at the Premier League stage in the years to come.