Manchester City are reportedly leading the race to sign Borussia Dortmund's 17-year-old winger Mathis Albert, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool also tracking the record-breaking American teenager.
Albert has featured only sparingly for Niko Kovac's Dortmund side this season, but that has not cooled interest in him. According to TEAMtalk, City made a formal approach during the summer window and remain the most determined suitors, willing to offer lucrative personal terms to convince the teenager to move to England next summer.
A record-breaker Dortmund do not want to lose
Albert joined Dortmund from the LA Galaxy academy in 2024 and made history as the youngest American to feature in the Bundesliga, debuting at 16 years, 11 months and five days in Dortmund's 4-0 win over Freiburg — surpassing the mark previously held by Gio Reyna, who had himself overtaken Christian Pulisic.
He has since earned senior caps for the United States and scored on international duty. Sports Mole, reporting the same TEAMtalk claims on Friday morning, put Dortmund's valuation at around €20 million (£17m), a figure City were previously prepared to meet and one Chelsea were also willing to spend after tracking Albert for some time.
Dortmund, for their part, have so far rebuffed all approaches, including loan enquiries, and insist Albert remains central to their first-team plans. With his current contract running until June next year, the Bundesliga club have already prepared an extension offer, and Kovac has publicly backed the teenager for a bigger role as the season goes on.
Why nobody can sign him yet
There is a hard deadline built into any deal. Premier League rules prevent clubs from signing Albert permanently until he turns 18 in May, so any transfer would be geared towards next summer — the same kind of patient, pre-agreed race Premier League clubs are running for other young talents, as BTFW reported in the chase for Como defender Ramon.
Paris Saint-Germain enquired back in the summer of 2025, contacting then-sporting director Sebastian Kehl, though no deal progressed. More recently Arsenal and Liverpool have begun watching closely, yet City are viewed as better placed should Dortmund ever soften their stance — a familiar position for a club whose recruitment at senior level, built around stars such as Haaland, is matched by an aggressive drive to stockpile elite teenagers before their price doubles.
Albert's former LA Galaxy academy coach Sam Al-Basith has praised his unpredictability and creativity, while his agent has described him as "fearless" — willing to take on senior professionals rather than hide from them. Those are exactly the traits City's scouts prize in a left-sided attacker.
So what does it mean?
For Dortmund, the calculation is simple and difficult at once: play Albert more and his value — and his willingness to sign that extension — rises; leave him on the fringes and the Premier League queue grows louder ahead of next summer. For City, this is about timing rather than urgency. They cannot complete a permanent deal until May, so the work now is relationships, personal terms and convincing Albert that his development is better served in Manchester than at Signal Iduna Park.
Chelsea's long-standing interest and the newer attention from Arsenal and Liverpool mean Dortmund still hold leverage — but only while Albert keeps believing minutes are coming in Germany.
Beyond the Final Whistle: £17m for a 17-year-old with a handful of senior minutes sounds wild until you remember Reyna and Pulisic came through the same Dortmund door — and both were worth far more within two seasons. City are not buying the player Albert is today; they are buying the race itself, and right now they are winning it. Should City push to lock Albert down for next summer, or would regular football at Dortmund serve him better for another year? Let us know in the comments.
