Despite strong interest from Manchester City and many other European clubs, Bayer Leverkusen appears to have won the race for one of Germany's top talents. The defensive midfielder will join Bayer Leverkusen. The media coverage of the past few months highlighted the persistent scouting of Manchester City, which had club representatives observe the defensive midfielder during a breakthrough season in the 2. Bundesliga with 17 league appearances. Eichhorn rose to the radar of the club in August 2025, when he became the youngest debutant in the history of the 2. Bundesliga at the age of 16 years and 14 days, before later surpassing Jude Bellingham's record as the youngest scorer in the history of the DFB-Pokal. Although scouts from the Etihad Stadium had extensive conversations with the player's environment about a development path in East Manchester, the prospect of immediate continuity in the professional league in his homeland ultimately led the top talent to BayArena. Now, David Ornstein from The Athletic reports that Bayer Leverkusen has emerged victorious in a hard-fought competition to sign Hertha Berlin's Kennet Eichhorn, who was courted by top clubs from Germany and England. Manchester City is making a move to outdo Manchester United in the signing of a German defensive midfielder. According to the report, Leverkusen's efforts were led by Managing Director Simon Rolfes and Sports Director Kim Falkenberg, who will now activate an exit clause in the teenager's contract. This will allow the German youth international to sign the contract, while work is still being done on the final details of the agreement. Additional reports from Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany suggest that the exit clause is between 8 million and 9 million euros. Not getting Eichhorn is a rare setback for Hugo Viana's recruitment team, particularly because the teenager's calmness on the ball, his spatial awareness, and comparisons with players like Sergio Busquets perfectly fit the club's style of play. Leverkusen's sporting leadership, which works excellently under Simon Rolfes, used the proof of successful youth development to secure this significant coup at a very economically attractive transfer fee. Manchester City will now focus on top players based in England and already established in the first division, with Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson being the top target for the summer transfer window.