Chelsea is the favorite to bring Bosnia’s teenage star of the World Cup, Kerim Alajbegović, from Bayer Leverkusen, whose value is 30 million pounds, writes The Telegraph today.
The 18-year-old scored against Qatar last month in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s final group stage game and started three games – including the last-16 loss to the hosts, the United States. He is one of the most highly regarded young attacking midfielders in Europe and returned to Bayer Leverkusen in a buyout deal from Red Bull Salzburg this summer.
There are others interested in the player, including Juventus, but Chelsea now look the most likely choice for Leverkusen. New Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso was at Leverkusen when Alajbegović came through the club’s development system, although he had yet to make his professional debut for the team.
Alonso is believed to be delighted with Alajbegovic’s transfer, and Alejandro Garnacho is now on his way to Aston Villa. Alajbegović was initially a target for Juventus and other Serie A clubs such as Atalanta and Fiorentina, but that has changed in recent months.
Alajbegović is one of a number of Leverkusen academy graduates who have been developed by the club with the aim of either promoting him to the first team or turning a profit in the transfer market. Alajbegović was sold to Red Bull Salzburg last summer for around €2m (£1.7m), with a buyout clause that Leverkusen could activate for €4m – which the club duly activated this summer.
Rather than loaning him to Salzburg, it was decided last summer that a sell-and-buy would motivate the Austrian club to play him in the first team. He played in the Europa League group stage. He also scored nine goals and had three assists in the Austrian Bundesliga. Such performances at his age have made him a standout in many clubs’ data analysis models and have attracted a lot of interest.
Since winning the Bundesliga in 2024 and the DFB-Pokal – the equivalent of the FA Cup – with Alonso, Leverkusen have sought to strengthen their position in Europe through good player exchanges and development. In the last two years, they have reached the round of 16 of the Champions League. Last season they fell to sixth place in the Bundesliga, and next season they will play in the Europa League.
Simon Rolfes, sporting director, and Kim Falkenberg, director of football, have built a strong group of players who have been developed within the club and externally through loans. The Bayer Future Group is managed by Team Planning Director Dieter Schreiber and Loans Manager Matthew Green.
These include Alajbegovic, who joined from local rivals FC Köln, as well as Francis Onyeka (19), who is on loan next season; Noah Mbamba (21) and Abdoulaye Faye (21). Last year, the club also signed German under-20 national team player, Farid Alf-Ruprecht (20), from Manchester City, where he was developed in the academy without appearing for the first team.
