West Ham United and Arsenal are eyeing promising Town youngster Tawanda Chirewa, TWTD understands.
Chirewa, 18, was one of the top performers for the U23s during 2021/22, scoring 12 times as the side coached by Kieron Dyer and then John McGreal topped Professional Development League Two South.
The Shenfield-raised forward was due to be out of contract this summer but the Blues recently took an option to keep him for a further season and are keen to keep him at Portman Road longer term.
However, we understand his performances for the U23s have attracted the attention of the Gunners and Hammers among others keen to recruit him into their development squads.
Chirewa, who qualifies to play international football for Zimbabwe, became Town’s second-youngest first-team player when he made his debut in the EFL Trophy tie at Colchester in November 2019 aged 16 years and 31 days old.