Rangers youngster Bailey Rice is beginning to receive a lot of interest from a number of clubs across Europe, including Spanish giants Real Madrid.
What clubs are interested in signing Bailey Rice?
Reports have suggested the likes of Newcastle United and the two Manchester giants are believed to be holding an interest in from the Premier League.
However, it is apparent the interest is not only coming from the United Kingdom with the likes of Porto, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund also monitoring the 16-year-old.
Rice only made the move to Ibrox last summer having signed from Motherwell after beating their city rivals to the signing of the midfielder.
Speaking on the Talking Transfers podcast, insider Graeme Bailey has provided some insight into the level of interest in the youngster ahead of the summer:
"Michael Beale likes him a lot. He was signed from Motherwell last summer when he turned down Man City at the time, but yeah, a lot of clubs looking at him, including Real Madrid.
"I think when some good 16-year-olds come up, I think clubs know about them pretty quickly. And obviously, everyone south of the border knows about him as well. But an interesting one this guy – Bailey Rice, a defensive midfielder for Rangers. If someone comes calling, as we know with Rangers and the financial situation in Scottish football, it will be very hard for them to turn down a good offer."
Why do clubs want to sign Rice already?
Although there are said to be a number of clubs looking at Rice ahead of the summer, it seems Rangers were not the only club with him on their radar last summer.
Indeed, Bailey has claimed the current Premier League champions, Manchester City, were looking at the midfielder as an option to bring into their youth setup.
Having snapped Rice up over the summer, the 16-year-old has continued to impress in the Rangers youth side which has seen him catch the eye of Michael Beale.
Along with making 13 appearances in the Lowland League, Rice has played in the UEFA Youth League six times this season against the likes of Liverpool, Napoli and Ajax's youth sides (via Transfermarkt).
And it is these games which saw the 16-year-old handed his senior debut by Beale just last month in Rangers' convincing away win against Livingston.
Granted, the youngster was only on the pitch for two minutes, however, it is more of an indication as to the trajectory he could be in line for over the coming years, having already caught the attention and earned the trust of Beale.
With this in mind, it will be interesting to see where he feels his future may be best spent.
If a club like Real Madrid were to come in for him, it could be an opportunity too big to turn down, however, it does seem as if he could potentially be able to make an impression on the Rangers side over the coming years.