Arsenal are casting a watchful eye over 18-year-old Valencia centre-back Yarek Gasiorowski, according to a report.
The 2005-born defender stands at 6ft 3in tall and is starting to earn his stars at senior level with Valencia after coming through the Los Che academy system.
Gasiorowski made his first-team debut for Valencia off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Mallorca on October 7, and he has since made two further substitute appearances in La Liga against Granada and Real Madrid.
Earlier this month, the teenager also made his first senior start for Valencia in a Copa del Rey clash against UD Logrones, completing the full 90 minutes at left-back in a 2-0 victory.
However, Gasiorowski's exploits in a Spain jersey have caught the eye more than anything else, as the centre-back scored a remarkable hat-trick for his nation's Under-19s in a 5-0 European Championship qualifying win over Moldova last Wednesday.
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Gasiorowski - who is still registered to Valencia's B team - has a contract with Los Che until the end of the 2024-25 season, although the Spanish club can choose to extend that deal by another two years.
Valencia may be facing an uphill battle to keep hold of the highly-rated Spaniard, though, as AS claims that Arsenal are monitoring his progress and have had their eye on him for a while.
The Gunners supposedly wanted to sign Gasiorowski some time ago, but they were prevented from doing so by Brexit regulations, which state that English clubs cannot sign players under 18 years of age.
Instead, Red Bull Salzburg supposedly tried and failed to sign him with an offer of €5m (£4.4m) before the teenager made his first-team breakthrough with Valencia, but Arsenal are now back in the race following Gasiorowski's 18th birthday in January.
The defender's current Valencia contract reportedly includes a release clause worth €20m (£17.4m), which Arsenal could comfortably afford, but his price tag will continue to rise as he makes more appearances for the first team.
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Arsenal boss Arteta has settled on an effective first-choice defensive pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes since the start of last season, although Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jakub Kiwior and Jurrien Timber can also play centrally.
However, Timber is facing an uphill battle to return before the end of the season due to an ACL injury, while Kiwior could supposedly be sent out on loan amid his lack of starts since joining from Spezia in January.
Defensive reinforcements are not believed to be top of sporting director Edu's agenda, though, especially with White and Tomiyasu both expected to sign new-and-improved contracts in the coming months.
Instead, the Gunners will focus on signing a new big-name striker in the summer of 2024 and could also target midfield reinforcements in January, when Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny are set to jet off to the Africa Cup of Nations.
Mikel Arteta's men are third in the Premier League table after 12 matches - only one point behind Manchester City - and they face London rivals Brentford on Saturday evening in their first game back since the international break.
Ben Knapton
