The 17-year-old has earned comparisons with England international and Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho due to similarities in their playing styles
A number of German clubs, including RB Leipzig, are watching Manchester City‘s talented winger Jayden Braaf, who has been dubbed the ‘new Jadon Sancho’.
Bundesliga leaders Leipzig made checks on the 17-year-old during City’s FA Youth Cup fourth-round victory over Aston Villa on Tuesday.
And the Netherlands Under-18 international will likely have impressed as he set up both goals in a 2-1 victory at the Etihad Campus.
The teenager’s playing style has drawn comparisons to former City winger Sancho, who left the club in 2017 to join Borussia Dortmund and has since established himself as one of Europe’s most exciting young attackers.
Braaf has trained with the first-team squad on a number of occasions but has not yet broken through into Pep Guardiola’s matchday squad.
City beat a host of Premier League clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United, to sign the former Ajax and PSV youth player 18 months ago.
He signed a contract extension until 2023 last August, but while impressing in the Netherlands’ run to the semi-final of the U17s World Cup later in the year, Braaf hinted he would be prepared to leave the club in search of first-team football.
“I hope to be able to play somewhere in a first team next season. At Manchester City or somewhere else, we will see,” he told Voetbalzone in October.
“A lot of people are talking to me, I have to keep going and this is an important season.”
Leipzig and their 32-year-old coach Julian Nagelsmann have earned a reputation for bringing through young players, including highly-rated forward Timo Werner and centre-back Dayot Upamecano.
They have also looked to the Premier League before, taking Chelsea’s Ethan Ampadu and Ademola Lookman from Everton on loan, although both struggled to force themselves into the first team on a regular basis.
German clubs have taken a particular interest in signing players from City’s highly-rated academy. Sancho aside, Wales international Rabbi Matondo joined Schalke in a £10 million move last January while, in recent years, Pablo Maffeo moved to Stuttgart and Denzeil Boadu to Dortmund.
Meanwhile, fellow winger Ian Carlo Poveda could leave the club in the January.
The England U20 international is out of contract in the summer, and Championship side Leeds United and Italian clubs Torino and Parma are showing an interest in signing him in the current transfer window.
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