FC Nordsjaelland manager Flemming Pedersen has revealed that Premier League giants Manchester United and Liverpool are ‘in the race’ to sign teenage prodigy Kamaldeen Sulemana, who has been likened to PSG star Neymar.
The 19-year-old has enjoyed an excellent season for the Danish side, scoring 10 goals and laying on seven assists, and has quickly attracted the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs with Ajax believed to have made a £12million offer.
But Sulemana has also got admirers in the Premier League – with reports even suggesting United are ready to trump Ajax with a £15m offer – and now Pedersen has confirmed that both the Red Devils and rivals Liverpool are interested.
Asked where Sulemana is most likely to end up next, the Nordsjaelland boss told TV3 Sport: ‘That’s a really good question. Ajax is perhaps the safe choice where he will definitely get plenty of playing time.
‘[Manchester] United, Liverpool and others are in the race. Well, I also know Kamal so well that when he is pressured, he automatically takes the next step as well.
‘And with the personality and mentality he has, there I will never ever say it will be too big a leap, for he is extraordinary.’
Pedersen was also asked if he now expects the Ghana international to leave Denmark this summer and replied: ‘You could well assume that.
‘I cannot stand here to say that I expect him to be here next season because there is so much talk about him.
‘That’s completely understandable, and I myself helped hype him last spring when he made his debut. But we have to see what happens.’
Pedersen believes Sulemana has enormous potential and recently compared the teenager to Neymar, saying: ‘We are talking about a player with potential on a par with Neymar, and maybe even more than that, because he is even faster.’
Despite only making his professional debut last year, Sulemana has already won two caps for Ghana at full international level.
His speed and dribbling ability have marked him out as arguably the stand-out talent in the Danish Superliga and Ajax have been keeping tabs on him ever since they raided Nordsjaelland in August 2020 to sign Mohammed Kudus.
