The Blues have had scouts watching the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder in action with a view to making a move for him when the transfer window reopens in January.

The German under-19 international is widely seen as one of the brightest talents in the Bundesliga and has been in Barca's sights for over a year.

The 18 year-old, who captained Germany’s under-18 side, holds dual German and Turkish citizenship and turned down the chance of a full cap with Turkey.

And most of the biggest clubs in Europe have sent spies to watch him in action at one stage or another in the last year even though he is yet to play a first team game.