Arsenal after 'starlet' Samper and 'wonderkid' Alcacer

Chelsea join Gunners in hunt for young talent as they chase Villa 'whizzkid' Grealish

Paco Alcacer at a training session
(Image credit: JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty)

If it's not 'wonderkids', then it is 'whizzkids' or 'starlets' wowing the Premier League's finest this week. And Talksport kicks things off today with one of the former as Arsenal and Chelsea eye up "Spanish wonderkid Paco Alcacer". Leaving aside the fact the striker is 21, and perhaps a tad long in the tooth to be described as a kid, Talksport claims that Valencia are "frantically working on a new contract" for Alcacer as the two London clubs lurk in the background. The frontman made his debut for Spain last week in their friendly against France and scored the first goal in Spain's 5-1 victory over Macedonia on Monday. Apparently Valencia are so desperate to keep hold of Alcacer they are prepared to break the bank to stave off interest from Arsenal and Chelsea.

Moving on to 'starlets', that is the soubriquet bestowed on Barcelona midfielder Sergi Samper by the Daily Mirror. It's believed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger "has gone back in" to try to sign the 19-year-old, three years after his first attempt. On that occasion Samper opted to remain at the Camp Nou and the Mirror claims it will "take some persuading" to get him to leave this time, as he has his heart set on making a name for himself with Barcelona. But Wenger is cautiously optimistic that if he meets Barca's buy-out clause of £9.5m he might get his hands on Samper.

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Bill Mann is a football correspondent for The Week.co.uk, scouring the world's football press daily for the popular Transfer Talk column.