Arsenal are keeping tabs on Vitoria Guimaraes’s defensive midfielder Ibrahima Bamba.
The 20-year-old has an ever-growing list of admirers after breaking on to the scene in the Portuguese league, with Italian side Atalanta and Spaniards Villarreal making plenty of the running.
But Guimaraes have been told the Gunners are also keeping tabs on Bamba’s development and that they want to be kept abreast of any developments should they decide to let him leave.
Bamba is valued at around £26.5million and has been watched by scouts from the Premier League club. The player is not expected to leave in January, although a big offer from one of his suitors could tempt his side to do business.
Bamba, who joined Guimaraes in 2020, was born in Italy of Ivorian descent and in May this year was called up to train with a large group of players by Italy boss Roberto Mancini.
Meanwhile, Eddie Nketiah is targeting next season to realise his "dream" of playing in the Champions League. The Gunners sit top of the Premier League heading into the penultimate round of fixtures before the World Cup but face a tough trip to Chelsea on Sunday lunchtime.
Nketiah, 23, started out in Chelsea's academy before being released and later picked up by Arsenal, where he signed a new contract last summer, reportedly earning him in the region of £100,000 a week.
His good goalscoring end to last season no doubt went a long way to securing those terms, as well as the number 14 shirt previously worn by Thierry Henry, as he hit five goals in his last seven Premier League games - including a brace in a 4-2 win at Stamford Bridge.
Nketiah has yet to get off the mark in the league this year but victory in west London would put Arsenal a massive 13 points clear of Chelsea as they target at least a return to Champions League football.
Not since the 2016/17 season have Arsenal played in Europe's elite club competition and, with Nketiah not making his senior debut until the following campaign, he is aiming for a crack at the big time.
"That would be a dream come true for me," he told arsenal.com when asked about his ambitions of playing in the Champions League.
"Especially if I could do it at my boyhood club. Obviously what happened at the end of last season when we missed out on the top four hurt a lot, but we've got to use that in our favour this year, to kick on from how we finished last year and I think it will only make us stronger.
"Hopefully we can use that to get back in the Champions League next season because that's where we all want to be...it has been too long."
