EPL: Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur ‘to rival Fulham for Antonio Nusa’

Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly set to rival Fulham in the race to sign Club Brugge forward Antonio Nusa.

The 18-year-old is understood to have caught the eye of a number of European clubs since breaking into the Club Brugge senior side in 2021.

Nusa has already featured 54 times for the Belgian outfit in all competitions and was primarily used an impact substitute last season, but he has since been given more first-team opportunities in the current campaign.

Indeed, the teenager has started nine of his 17 appearances for Club Brugge in 2023-24, scoring twice and setting up two more in the Belgian Pro League.

Nusa was handed his first senior international call-up for Norway in September and he contributed with a goal and assist on his debut in a 6-0 friendly win over Jordan, before providing three assists across two Euro 2024 qualifiers against Georgia and Cyprus.

Although Nusa still has just over three years remaining on his contract with Club Brugge, the versatile forward has been tipped to join a bigger club and make the next step in his career.

A recent report claims that Fulham have identified Nusa as a possible transfer target, as manager Marco Silva looks to bolster his ranks in the final third.

However, the Cottagers could face stern competition from London rivals Chelsea and Spurs, as Football Insider claims that the Premier League pair hold an ‘ongoing interest’ in the Norwegian.

The report adds that Club Brugge do not want to lose Nusa in the January transfer window as they as still going strong in both the Belgian Pro League and Europa League.

However, a bid in the region of £30m could be enough to persuade the Blauw-Zwart to part ways with the highly-rated starlet.

It is understood that Club Brugge would ideally hope to see a bidding war materialise between the likes of Chelsea and Spurs which could force the forward’s asking price to rise.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is believed to be keen to strengthen his attacking options within the next two transfer windows and Nusa has emerged as one of many players on the Blues’ radar along with Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Evan Ferguson and Copenhagen’s Roony Bardghji.

Tottenham, meanwhile, have yet to replace Harry Kane, who joined Bayern Munich in the summer, while the lengthy absences of Manor Solomon, Ivan Perisic and Richarlison – the latter of whom underwent groin surgery earlier this month – could force Ange Postecoglou’s side to delve into the January market for a new attacker.