Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be looking at improving his squad ahead of next season as they take to the Champions League for the first time since 2016/17.

The Gunners have recently been linked with Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo according to The Telegraph as Arteta looks to sign another player from the champions following his captures of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus last summer.

However, the report states that if the Portuguese full-back doesn’t join, Arteta could revive their interest in young Spanish defender Ivan Fresneda, who Football Insider claims has been a long-term target of the club and may only cost around £20m this summer. It's even suggested that the Gunners are 'poised to make a bid'.

This could give the manager the licence to ditch Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu during the transfer window, with the £55k-per-week liability playing 31 matches for the club amid a number of injury problems.

His latest injury ruled him out for the rest of the season after picking up the issue in March, and it could be some time before he returns.

The right-back ranked as just the 17th-best player in the squad with a rating of 6.68/10 as per Sofascore, while ranking in seventh for tackles (1.7) and interceptions per match (0.7), suggesting that he hasn't exactly set the Emirates on fire when he took to the field.

Could Arsenal sign Ivan Fresneda this summer?

Arteta failed with a bid to land the defender back in January and could divert his attention back to the youngster ahead of next term.

The 18-year-old ranks in the top 10% for blocks per 90 (1.65) and clearances per 90 (3.3) across Europe’s big five leagues over the previous 365 days, indicating he is already one of the finest players on the continent in regard to these defensive metrics - and there is no doubt he will continue to get better given his age.

Being such a young defender will obviously come with its downsides but this is a player who has already silenced one of the best wingers in the game, with one prominent scout and analyst having suggested that he "pocketed Vini Jr" when Real Valladolid took on Madrid at the end of 2022.

Across 20 La Liga appearances this season, he has an average Sofascore rating of 6.7/10, a solid effort considering his inexperience and playing regularly in the top flight will stand him in good stead for the future.

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Real Valladolid v Real Madrid - Estadio Jose Zorrilla, Valladolid, Spain - December 30, 2022  Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior in action with Real Valladolid's Ivan Fresneda REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

Fresneda even ranks in the top five of the Real Valladolid squad for accurate passes per game and tackles per game, underlining his importance in the team despite his tender years.

La Liga podcaster Matt Clark described the player as “remarkably complete” while also dubbing him as one of the “revelations of the season”, and for a fee of just £20m, Arteta could turn him into a world-class star and ditch Tomiyasu in the process.