Arsenal could turn their attention towards Youri Tielemans over the remainder of the January transfer window.
What's the talk?
That's according to Alex Crook, with the journalist revealing in his latest column for talkSPORT that, after seeing a £70m offer for Moises Caicedo turned down by Brighton & Hove Albion, Mikel Arteta could now turn his focus back towards the Leicester City central midfielder over the remainder of the winter market.
The transfer insider went on to suggest that, with the 25-year-old's contract at the King Power Stadium being set to expire at the end of the current campaign, the Foxes could be tempted to cash in on the Belgium international this month - with an offer in the region of £20m previously believed to be enough for Leicester bosses to sanction the playmaker's sale.
Forget about Caicedo
While it is true the early performances of Caicedo suggest the 21-year-old has the potential to go on and become an incredibly impressive Premier League midfielder further down the line, considering that Brighton are demanding £100m for a player who has ultimately featured in just 26 top flight fixtures, the Gunners must be extremely wary of overspending on the youngster.
As such, perhaps the more intelligent move this month would be to target the signing of an established Premier League midfielder, one who could make an immediate impact in Arteta's squad, as well as one who would be available for a considerably smaller fee than the Ecuadorean's asking price - with Tielemans appearing a prime candidate.
Indeed, over his four-year stay at Leicester, the £45m-rated talent has undoubtedly been one of the club's most consistent performers in the top flight, failing to average a Sofascore statistical rating of below 7.00 over his five campaigns with the Foxes, not to mention scoring 28 goals and registering a further 25 assists over his 184 appearances for Brendan Rodgers' side.
And, despite his team's struggles in the league so far this season, the £35k-per-week playmaker has still managed to catch the eye over his 20 Premier League appearances, scoring three goals, providing one assist and creating seven big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.
The 25-year-old has also impressed in more workmanlike metrics, making an average of 2.1 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and winning 4.2 duels - at a success rate of 56% - per outing, in addition to enjoying an average of 68.4 touches, finding his man with 2.6 long balls and completing 46 total passes - at a success rate of 85% - per fixture.
These returns have seen the player who talkSPORT's Jack Johnson dubbed "unreal" average a simply sensational Sofascore statistical rating of 7.17, not only ranking him as Leicester's second-best performer in the league but also as the joint 33rd-best player in the top flight as a whole - a rather astonishing feat while playing for a club who currently sit down in 14th place.
As such, considering the fact that Tielemans is very much a proven top performer in the Premier League, coupled with the fact he looks to be available for around £25m less than his current market valuation and £80m less than Caicedo, it would indeed appear as if the Belgian would represent an unreal alternative to the Brighton wonderkid for the Gunners.