Chelsea and Man Utd monitor England Under-21 international

London, Oct 17: English Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea are both reportedly interested in Middlesbrough's England Under-21s international Dael Fry.

The central defender has been hugely impressive this season after being given an opportunity in the starting XI alongside Ben Gibson.

And, his progress has been monitored closely by the giants of England including Chelsea and Manchester United and both of them are expected to explore the opportunity of signing the promising young defender.

Fry, who is currently with the U21s ahead of their European qualifiers against Scotland and Lithuania, helped his country to win the U20s World Cup in the summer.

After making his senior bow for Middlesbrough two years ago, he ended up playing a key role in helping them to win promotion from the Championship under Aitor Karanka as he stepped in during an injury crisis.

He began last season on-loan at Rotherham before returning to the Riverside in January and making two appearances in the FA Cup.

However, this campaign he has become a key member of the side and has already featured 11 times under Monk, helping his side to keep seven clean sheets in those matches.

Fry has featured mostly alongside fellow Teessider Ben Gibson at the heart of the defence, another star who was heavily linked with a move away over the summer following relegation and has proved a more than capable partner.

Both Fry and Gibson have found themselves potentially in demand after scouts from United and Chelsea have both been in attendance to watch him in action.

Fry, who also won the U17s European Championship with England back in 2014, is under contract at his hometown club until 2011.

But following the interest from the Red Devils and the Blues, the report claims that he is set to open talks over a new deal as the Teesside club hope to tie-down his long-term future with them after his first-team breakthrough.