Newcastle and Crystal Palace are in competitors with Actual Madrid within the race to signal AZ Alkmaar starlet Kees Smit.
The 19-year-old midfielder is considered one of many hottest prospects in European soccer having burst on the scene in 2023.
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After scoring ten targets in 46 appearances for AZ’s reserve staff, Smit has now established himself as a stalwart within the senior facet.
He has chipped in with two targets and 5 assists from 27 outings in all competitions this time period.
His high-quality kind has led to him being tipped to be included within the Netherlands’ World Cup squad subsequent summer time.
And his dazzling shows have caught the curiosity of a number of prime golf equipment forward of what can be a record-breaking AZ sale.
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Smit of all proper
talkSPORT understands that Champions League rivals Actual and Newcastle are the 2 golf equipment most fascinated about prising {the teenager} away from Holland.
Whereas the Eagles are additionally eyeing up a possible swoop in what can be a significant coup for the south London outfit.
Any suitor wishing to snap up Smit’s providers must pay over £22million.
That will symbolize a report price for an AZ participant, which stands at £21.8m once they offered now-Manchester Metropolis star Tijjani Reijnders to AC Milan in 2023.
Smit himself has declared he intends to embark on a brand new chapter away from the AFAS Stadion earlier than his contract expires in 2028.
Chatting with De Telegraaf about his future plans, he stated: “How lengthy do I see myself at AZ?
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“I feel six months or a year-and-a-half, after that, I hope to have taken the subsequent step.
“I count on my switch to be accomplished for €30m.
“It will be AZ’s costliest signing and can be good for the membership.
“My subsequent step is outdoors of the Netherlands, I do not discover it troublesome to take care of [the speculation].
“In actual fact, I feel it is fantastic and I’ve began desirous about it.”
Such is Smit’s ceiling within the recreation, Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman lately in contrast him to Barcelona maestro Pedri – the 2021 Golden Boy and Kopa Trophy winner.
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Koeman remarked in November: “I’ve to watch out with what I say, however I coached Pedri at Barcelona and I see issues from him in Kees Smit.
“The turns, using each ft, the imaginative and prescient of the sport, that’s what I noticed in Pedri again then.
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“What he’s displaying at such a younger age is spectacular.
“If he achieves half of what Pedri has achieved in his profession, everybody in Holland might be completely satisfied.”
