Aston Villa have seen an approach for Northampton Town starlet Caleb Chukwuemeka rejected, a report from The Daily Mail has claimed.

The 19-year-old attacker made 28 appearances in all competitions for Northampton last season, scoring twice, as they suffered relegation from League One back to League Two.

Even so, it seems as though the teenager is already starting to attract plenty of attention from further up the football pyramid.

According to this latest update, Aston Villa have now seen an approach for Chukwuemeka knocked back by Northampton, as they look to keep hold of the attacker.

That is despite the fact that Chukwuemeka's youth contract with Northampton is set to expire in January, meaning the League Two side face losing him for just a minimal compensation.

As well as Villa, newly promoted Premier League side Norwich and defending Scottish champions Rangers are also said to be interested in the teenager.

Meanwhile, Chukwuemeka is also reported to have caught the eye of Tottenham and Newcastle with his recent performance for Northampton in a friendly with West Ham earlier this week.

The Verdict

This looks like being something of a challenging situation for Northampton.

Given the potential and ability that Chukwuemeka evidently possesses, you can understand why they are keen to try and keep him at Sixfields.

However, the appeal of playing at Premier League level will understandably be hard for Chukwuemeka to turn down, both from a football and financial perspective.

Add to that the fact that those sides should be more than capable of paying Chukwuemeka's compensation fee to Northampton, and it does seem hard to imagine the Cobblers keeping hold of him beyond the current window.