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The 15-year-old on Arsenal and Chelsea's radar — photo: sports.yahoo.com

Photo: sports.yahoo.com

WONDERKIDSEARLY INTEREST

The 15-year-old on Arsenal and Chelsea's radar

A 15-year-old playing his football in Oslo has ended up on the radar of two Premier League heavyweights, and that alone tells you something about how far down the age groups Arsenal and Chelsea are now willing to look.

By Sam Carrick· Premier League·Published ·2 MIN READ

Gabriel Rajkovic is a teenage prospect at Vålerenga, and according to CaughtOffside, both Arsenal and Chelsea have stepped up their interest in him. It's the kind of headline that lands with more intrigue than detail: at this stage, there's no confirmed fee talk, no agreed terms, nothing beyond two of English football's biggest academies apparently paying close attention to a Norwegian teenager.

That's not unusual in itself. Both clubs run scouting networks that stretch across Scandinavia, a region that has quietly become one of Europe's more productive pipelines for young talent in recent years. What's notable here is the age: 15 is early even by the standards of a market that has grown used to clubs identifying wonderkids before they've finished growing.

Who is Gabriel Rajkovic

Details beyond his name, age and club are thin on the ground right now. CaughtOffside's report describes him as a "record-breaking teenage sensation" without spelling out exactly what those records are, and the excerpt available doesn't go further than the headline claim. Vålerenga hasn't put out anything of its own on the interest, and neither Arsenal nor Chelsea have commented.

What can be said is that he's emerged as a name Premier League scouts are watching, which is usually the first visible sign of a longer process that's already been running behind the scenes for a while.

Why Arsenal and Chelsea are paying attention

Arsenal sit second in the Premier League after three games this season, unbeaten under Mikel Arteta, and the club has leaned on its academy pipeline before: six current first-team squad members came through it. Chelsea's recruitment model under its current ownership has been built around exactly this kind of early identification, scooping up teenage talent from across Europe long before rival clubs are seriously in the conversation.

Neither of those facts confirms anything specific about Rajkovic's situation. But they explain why a name like his, attached to even an early report, gets picked up and repeated: both clubs have shown, repeatedly, that they're willing to move on players years before a transfer fee ever becomes relevant.

What happens next

At 15, any interest from Arsenal or Chelsea is scouting-stage stuff rather than anything close to a deal. There's no indication in the reporting so far of a bid, a scholarship offer or a date attached to any next step. For now, Rajkovic remains a Vålerenga player whose name has started travelling further than most of his teammates', and that's the story as it stands.

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A 15-year-old playing his football in Oslo has ended up on the radar of two Premier League heavyweights, and that alone tells you something about how far down the age groups Arsenal and Chelsea are now willing to look.

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