After the hype of last season, it's been a tough old six months for Hachim Mastour.

Knee problems and a couple of nagging wisdom teeth have stalled Mastour's progress. But that's not to say the elite of the game have forgotten about the AC Milan prospect.

Real Madrid, having made enquiries in January, are back in touch this month, while Ajax and Barcelona are also monitoring developments. The fresh interest arrives just as his agent, Dario Paolillo confirms plans to speak with Milan about Mastour's situation at the end of this season.

For many inside Italian football, if Mastour does fulfil his potential, he will be their first 'social media footballer'. At 16, Mastour boasts 80,000 Twitter followers and 650,000 Facebook friends. He's featured in commercials with Red Bull and Nike, showing off his skills with Barcelona star Neymar.

Last season, Milan applied - and was granted - special permission to include Mastour in their first team squad. The then 15 year-old made the bench four times under former Rossoneri coach Clarence Seedorf, but was prevented from making history - much to the frustration of his social media network.

This season, Mastour was added to Pippo Inzaghi's squad. Though knee concerns have held him back, that hasn't toned down the hype around him.

"Mastour is still very young and is already in the spotlight on a massive scale," says Milan youth chief Filippo Galli. "We need to stay close to this guy and wait for him.

"He is the player from a technical point of view who has most impressed in the Milan youth team."

Before he left Milan, former Primavera coach Aldo Dolcetti had the chance to work with Mastour and was amazed by the teen's dribbling ability.

"The natural qualities he has is enormous: the ability to bring down the ball, the mastery in which he controls it is very high," says Dolcetti.

"The opportunity for him is there (to become a great player). He really is a player of great potential."

Asked about Mastour's greatest strength, Dolcetti was clear.

"It's his aggression when on the ball," he recalled to IlSussidiario.net. "He takes the opposition head-on.

"He also has a great range of tricks to get himself out of difficult areas. This should be encouraged. He has the range of skill which would allow him to play on the wing and also through the middle."

His former Giovanissimi coach, Omar Danesi, agrees.

"When he's in possession it's impressive," says the Milan coach. "It's impossible to get the ball off him."

Milan splashed out €400,000 on Mastour in 2012 after spotting him in Reggiana's Giovanissimi team, beating Arsenal, Manchester United and Inter Milan in the process.

Now there's new interest from abroad, this time from Real Madrid, Barca and Ajax.

Even super agent Mino Raiola has become involved, threatening to whisk Mastour away from Paolillo.

"I do not like the circus around Mastour," complained Raiola, injecting himself into the debate over how Mastour is being managed this season.

"There's no circus around Mastour," was Paolillo's reply. "The guy is a predestined, known only for his play, his talent and his qualities. Hachim never makes headlines for the wrong behavior or a tweet - unlike many others.

"This is because he is very humble and polite. And I take care to accompany him on this journey, managing what revolves around him."

Paolillo continued: "Mino says you have to be like their fathers, I'm 25 years old and I accompany the youngsters on a daily basis in their path as if we were brothers.

"I do not know whether to consider it an honor, but I know that Raiola tried to manage (Gianluca) Scamacca, despite knowing that the boy trusts me. So I ask him a favor: he already has his Ibrahimovic, let me manage his heir to success."

While agents bicker, there still remains doubts about Mastour's potential. Three years of football at Milan have yielded barely 20 competitive games and his detractors insist the only place his 'freestyle" skills could work is on Youtube.

But the youth coaches at Real Madrid, Ajax and Barcelona are no mugs. Neither is Raiola. If they're all eager to work with him, there must be more to Hachim Mastour than a juggling act.