However, Chukwuemeka is yet to pen fresh terms at Villa despite being handed a reasonable amount of appearances under the Liverpool legend. And the Express claim that Borussia Dortmund are ‘serious’ about signing the Villa youth star.

The claims come after Spanish outlet SPORT reported that Barcelona held a meeting over the signing of Chukwuemeka. They claimed that Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff held a meeting with the teenager’s agent, to discuss bringing him to Catalonia.

The longer Chukwuemeka deliberates over signing a new contract the more he will continue to be linked with moves away, as Barcelona, Arsenal and Dortmund fight for his signature, according to speculation in the media. And the Daily Mail claims Chukwuemeka is being monitored by Dortmund as they believe that he can follow in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham.

Back in January, Gerrard issued a blunt response to Chukwuemeka’s future, and said: “We want him to sign and to extend and reward him for what we’ve seen so far. We’ve got big aspirations and a big road map for Carney but, in terms of answering your question, there’s only one person who can answer and that’s Carney.”

BirminghamLive asked Gerrard earlier in March if talks have progressed over Chukwuemeka extending his stay beyond 2023, and his response was telling. He said: “No, no. As far as I know they haven’t progressed. We’ve done everything we can from our side to try and make them progress. I’m not sure where that’s up to at the moment.”