Northampton Town are set to lose talented teenager Caleb Chukwuemeka in January, with the 19-year-old close to signing for Belgian side Club Brugge, per Pete O'Rourke.

And it comes just a few weeks after Scottish Premiership champions Rangers were linked with a move for the forward, with a £60,000 figure quoted to sign him on a pre-contract deal in less than six months time.

Chukwuemeka has never signed a professional deal at the Cobblers, but he was still handed his senior debut for the club back in September, before going on to make 28 appearances in all competitions.

Most of Chukwuemeka's appearances were cameos off the bench but he still impressed enough to attract attention from elsewhere, with the likes of Norwich City bidding for his services in January and he was also linked with Aston Villa, where his younger brother Carney plays.

But Belgian champions Brugge were also interested at the start of 2021 and it looks as though they have moved one step closer to securing the signing of the talent when his scholarship ends in January 2022.

The Verdict

It's rare to see players older than 18 still be scholars at clubs in the EFL but for whatever reason, Chukwuemeka has never signed a professional contract at Sixfields despite clearly being talented.

Now Northampton are set to lose Chukwuemeka for a very minimal fee, and we're seeing a trend of youngsters leaving England now to explore opportunities on the continent when years ago you generally wouldn't see it happen.

Chukwuemeka may feel that the pathway into Brugge's senior squad is a better one than the likes of Rangers or Aston Villa, or he could just want a fresh challenge overseas and away from home.

But it will be interesting to see how Northampton deal with the situation as they'll still have Chukwuemeka for the first four months of the season before his scholarship eventually expires and he moves on to pastures new.