Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly interested in Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki. The DR Congo star has been a target for both sides since December, following his impressive start in the Premier League.

According to a report by Sacha Tavolieri, Sadiki’s agent has been in talks with Chelsea. The 21-year-old is a key target for the defense this summer, and the FIFA Club World Cup winners are pushing to get him to move to Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United have also joined the race as they look to bolster their defense. They have now added the Sunderland star to their list and hold the advantage over the Blues are they are close to securing UEFA Champions League football next season. He posted:

“As revealed on December 12th, Manchester United and Chelsea are the current frontrunners to sign Sadiki. Sadiki has not yet made a decision but will make his own choice depending on the sporting project. In this battle, Manchester United has the advantage of being almost guaranteed a Champions League spot next year.”

The DR Congo star has played 27 matches for Sunderland this season in the Premier League, and has only missed matches while he was with the national team during AFCON.

Chelsea and the Red Devils have been dealing with injury issues this season and see the 21-year-old as a player who can slot into the starting XI when needed.

Manchester United without three senior defenders for Chelsea clash

Manchester United will be without Harry Maguire and Lisandro Martinez after their red cards in recent matches. Matthijs De Ligt is out injured, and now Leny Yoro has also not joined the squad for their trip to London.

Michael Carrick spoke about the red card suspension, admitting that they were disappointed about the decision not to reverse the suspension after appeal. He added that the club cannot think too much about it and said:

“To be honest, there’s not much we can react to. Massively disappointed, of course. I think quite a few reasons to be disappointed in a big way over those types of situations over the last three weeks. But, obviously, now we’ve got to move on, the decisions have been made, it’s something that we’re really disappointed with in many ways, but that’s it now. We’ve got to move on and we will do.”

The Red Devils are seven points clear of Chelsea in third place ahead of kick-off.