Albert Sambi Lokonga came up through the ranks of Anderlecht before breaking into their first team in 2017.
In the past, the defensive midfielder was a reported target for Liverpool and Manchester United as the two English clubs had planned to sign him for their academy.
Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws last month, he revealed he’d turned approaches from the Merseyside club and the Red Devils, and admitted he dreams of playing for Manchester City or Barcelona.
When talking about his future dreams, the midfielder responded “FC Barcelona or Manchester City: I dream of clubs like that.”
The 20-year-old’s current deal with the Jupiler Pro League side expires at the end of the season and Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad states his lawyers are convinced Anderlecht’s option to extend the player’s contract by a further year is not valid.
Het Nieuwsblad claims Pep Guardiola’s side and the La Liga winners ‘follow’ the ‘great talent’ as City and Barcelona have Lokonga on their radar.
Anderlecht’s idea is to offer him a new deal and to do that, they want to raise funds by sanctioning Adrien Trebel’s sale to Saudi Arabian side Al-Shabab FC.
Whether or not Anderlecht will be successful in retaining Lokonga beyond this season remains to be seen.