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Chelsea and Tottenham monitoring £2m talent compared to Marquinhos with scouts impressed
- EXCLUSIVE with Graeme Bailey
Chelsea and Tottenham have been on red alert when it comes to precocious talents in recent times.
Spurs have moved to snap up the likes of Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Pape Matar Sarr and Luka Vuskovic to join gems like Mikey Moore and Will Lankshear in N17.
In regards to Chelsea, Todd Boehly has placed a keen focus on hoovering up football’s greatest prospects, spending heavily to secure the signatures of Estevao Willian, Kendry Paez, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Mike Penders and many more.
Now, sources have informed TBR Football that both Chelsea and Tottenham are closely monitoring the progress of Matte Smets.
Chelsea and Tottenham scouting KRC Genk No.6 Matte Smets
TBR Football understand the Belgian wonderkid is making several clubs in the Premier League sit up and take notice of his talents after a stunning start to the 2024/25 campaign.
Smets – a central defender – has helped KRC Genk sit top of the Jupiler Pro League with his fine performances, starting 14 of the club’s 16 league games so far this season.
The 20-year-old only arrived at KRC Genk from Sint-Truiden in a £2m deal last summer, but has made a swift impression on clubs outside of Belgium.
TBR Football are aware that Chelsea – who are offering Carney Chukwuemeka out to Scotland – and Tottenham have both sent scouts to watch Smets in action, while Newcastle and Aston Villa are also monitoring the Belgium international.
It is believed those scouts who went to watch the Bilzen-born defender did not leave disappointed.
Matte Smets plays like Marquinhos
The Belgian is yet to become a household name in Europe despite his immense promise, although he has been compared to a leading defender in PSG No.5 Marquinhos.
It was Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout who made the comparison – writing that Smets is a “complete and elegant” defender who excels when it comes to anticipation, tackling, positioning, passing and composure.
Marquinhos has amassed 95 caps for Brazil and 458 appearances for PSG by the age of 30 – helping the Parisians win ten Ligue 1 titles and countless other pieces of silverware over the years.
Therefore, if Smets even becomes 50% of the player Marquinhos is, he is worth pursuing for Chelsea and Tottenham.