Europe’s finest are set to be disappointed after PSV confirmed that young sensation Zakaria Bakkali is close to agreeing a new deal.
After shining in the Nike Cup at Old Trafford in 2011 where he was named the competition’s best player, Bakkali burst onto the scene this season with a hat trick in Eindhoven’s 5-0 demolition of NEC Nijmegan and has been a fixture in Philip Cocu’s side ever since.
Inevitably interest in the 17 year old, likened to Eden Hazard by Belgium manager Marc Wilmots, skyrocketed, with a host of club alerted to the precocious talent. He himself confirmed Manchester United had made an approach, saying:
“Yes, I had offers from club all over Europe.”
When pressed as to who these clubs were and whether one of the clubs to have made an approach were United, Bakkali replied, “Yes that’s right.”
Bakkali had resolved to remain at PSV for the immediate future and rejected United’s advances, but remain in a perilous position with his current deal expiring in 2015.
EU Law states that players under 18 aren’t allowed to sign deals longer than 3 years so PSV are set to wait until January, after he turns 18, to offer him a new deal and things are looking bright for the Dutch club, as they believe his long term future lies in Holland.
Technical manager Marcel Brands, said of the starlet:
“Zakaria is satisfied with PSV and has indicated that he wants to continue to develop with us for the time being.
“We have received a positive signal and talk at the end of this month together on.”
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