Connor Wickham - the new Wayne Rooney.

Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea all want to sign 16-year-old striker Connor Wickham from Ipswich.

Wickham, the youngest first-team player in Ipswich's history, is regarded in the game as the most exciting young Englishman to emerge since Wayne Rooney.

Recently he made a hat-trick for England Under-17s a fortnight ago and Roy Keane's club fear he may be lured away before he can sign a professional contract in March.

A club source said: 'Whenever Wickham is down to play for the first team or reserves, two dozen scouts emerge out of nowhere to watch him. The consensus is he's as good as Rooney was at that age but is a lot bigger.'

Wickham is still to agree a contract at Ipswich, leaving them vulnerable to approaches from the big clubs. Although Ipswich would be compensated, a fee would have to be decided by tribunal.

Wickham became Ipswich's youngest player when he made his debut aged just 16 years and 11 days.

Keane has been trying to shield the player against high expectations, but the Irishman did say: 'Connor is a great talent, there's no doubt about that.'