Three of the Premier League’s biggest names are circling the same young Bundesliga number ten. According to reports first carried by The Hard Tackle, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have all stepped up their interest in Ibrahim Maza, with Manchester City and Aston Villa also keeping tabs on the Leverkusen attacking midfielder ahead of the January window.

The player at the centre of it all is 20, Algerian, and only in his second season of top-flight German football after joining Leverkusen from Hertha BSC in the summer of 2025.

PSG join the chase after Kvaratskhelia blow

The field grew wider this week. Paris Saint-Germain have entered the race, with the French champions scouring the market for attacking options after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s season-ending ACL injury.

The same report describes Maza as a player who “plays a bit like Henrikh Mkhitaryan”, citing his technical quality, creativity and ability to drift across the front line.

Read also: Bayern Munich ready to break long-standing rule for Harry Kane

Leverkusen have no intention of selling mid-season

Those circling will have to get past Leverkusen first. The German club are resisting any mid-season approach and see Maza as central to their push for a top-four finish and a serious cup run. His current contract runs until June 2030, which hands Leverkusen the whip hand in any negotiation and removes the pressure to cash in during January.

Nothing resembling a formal bid, release clause or asking price has surfaced in public. Interest, for now, remains at the scouting and reporting level, unconfirmed reports from secondary outlets, not confirmed transfer business.

Why the hype

Maza broke into the Leverkusen first team in 2025/26 and has pushed on this season. In the current 2026/27 campaign he has three goals and three assists from his opening Bundesliga appearances, numbers that have fed the chatter about a January move. Born in Berlin and known in Algeria as “Mazadona”, he has drawn attention as one of the standout young attacking midfielders in the German top flight.

Leverkusen’s public line is that the player is not for sale in the middle of the campaign. The European winter transfer window opens on 1 January.

Read also: Grizzlies rookie breaks LeBron James’s record with historic triple-double

Read also: Jake Paul eyes Christmas Eve return as former UFC star demands a contract