Everton and Aston Villa have made bids for highly-rated Bury teenager Matty Foulds, sources have told ESPN FC.
Foulds is regarded as one of the best young talents outside the top two leagues, and a host of clubs have been keeping tabs on his progress.
The 17-year-old has yet to make his league debut for Bury, but he attracted attention in their Capital One Cup clash with Leicester City in August and has been on the bench for every game since.
Foulds was left out of Bury's squad for their Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat to Morecambe on Tuesday after the League One club received several offers for the central defender.
"I'm protecting Matty, we've got some very good bids in for him now," Bury manager David Flitcroft told the club's official website.
"It's been bubbling along for a week now and some fantastic football clubs want his services.
"We took a business decision to not play Matty, with the organisation and the business at the forefront of my mind, because I didn't want this game upsetting that or getting in the way of that."
Everton have enjoyed success in signing promising talents from the Football League. They brought in John Stones from Barnsley in 2013, with the player going on to establish himself as an Everton regular and an England international.
Aston Villa are battling Everton for Foulds' signature, with Tim Sherwood keen to bolster his squad with young players who can quickly make the step up to the first team.
Championship hopefuls Derby County are also in the mix for Foulds' signature.