Bristol City's need for an attacking right-back can best be explained by the volume of different players that occupied the role at various stages last season: George Tanner, Alex Scott, Andi Weimann, Jay Dasilva and Sam Bell all started games there, none of which can be described as a natural wing-back.
Nigel Pearson's long-term vision for his team may or may not be in a wing-back system - he has previously declared a fondness for 4-3-3 - but clearly this squad is missing a specialist in the position, and it also draws players, such as Scott and Weimann, away from their primary and most effective roles.
Forest Green Rovers' Kane Wilson is understood to be one target, while this week Football Insider broke the news that Arsenal's Ryan Alebiosu is also under consideration, with Blackburn Rovers also keen on the 20-year-old who spent a period of last season on loan at Crewe Alexandra.
Alebiosu's position at the Gunners, and the obstructions to him breaking into the first-team, means he is likely to be available this summer, should a club wish to make an approach, and while that could be on loan, as per the original report, it is now understood a permanent deal is also an option.
Whether or not City would want to spend part of a minimal transfer budget on a largely untested young right-back is unclear, but to get more of an idea of what Alebiosu could offer we spoke to football.london Arsenal writer Kaya Kaynak who has watched him first hand several times for Arsenal Under-23s.
Can you explain what sort of player he is and a bit about his Arsenal history and development?
Alebiosu has been with Arsenal since the age of eight and has come through the club's prestigious Hale End academy. He started off as a winger but has become has moved further back recently.
The Gunners under-23s played a 5-3-2 under new coach Kevin Betsy for most of the first half of the season and Alebiosu featured as a wing back throughout.
This gives you a bit of an indication as to what sort of full-back he is. He's very athletic getting up and down the wings, direct in approach and a good crosser of the ball. His strengths though lie more in the attacking third than the defensive one.
He was a little bit timid to impose himself on games early on, but since becoming more involved in the attack under Betsy, he approaches the game with a lot more confidence, and made a decent impression at senior level is a stop-start loan spell at Crewe in the second half of this season.
And moving forward to today, what's his situation with Arsenal?
He's someone who's rated around the club having made the bench for the first team on a few occasions this season, including in both Carabao Cup semi final legs against Liverpool.
However, he's slightly unfortunate in that there's a real glut of right-backs at Arsenal right now. Takehiro Tomiyasu is first choice, while Cedric is his back up and Ben White has been used there on occasions this season. Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin are still both technically at the club too.
Alebiosu has been pushed even further down the pecking order recently by the rise to prominence of exciting academy prospect Brooke Norton-Cuffy who is two years younger than he is. Norton-Cuffy spent the second half of the season on loan at Lincoln City in League One where he really impressed as is being tipped for a first-team future one day.
With this in mind it seems unlikely that Alebiosu is going to be getting first-team football at the Emirates any time soon, and with just one year left on his contract, Arsenal are open to the idea of trying to get a fee for him this summer, but a loan is still also on the table.
What are his main strengths and weaknesses as a player?
He likes to get forward a lot and is good at contributing to the attacking phase. He managed a goal and five assists in just 10 Premier League 2 appearances, and up against men's teams in the Papa John's Trophy he was able to notch up two further assists in just four games.
He is occasionally a little lacking defensively though, having had to learn the instincts of a defender since his positional switch from being a winger. Alebiosu also just came back from a lengthy layoff with a back injury that disrupted his loan spell with Crewe, and it's not yet clear how much that has impacted him physically.
What's he like as a character and personality? What have people at Arsenal said about him?
He is liked at the club. Kevin Betsy identified him immediately when he came in over the summer as someone who was going to be key to his system and trusted him with a lot of responsibility as a result.
He is a little shy on occasion, but when he's in full flow he is direct and very difficult to stop. Mikel Arteta has had him training with the first team on several occasions and has consistently praised Arsenal's youngsters on how willing they are to learn this season.
In your opinion, and appreciate he is only 20, would Championship football be right for him?
He did well enough in League One last season in his limited appearances at Crewe, so there's no reason he couldn't make the step up to Championship level. He has some growing to do both physically and in a positional sense, but if Bristol City would be willing to be patient with him, then they would have a potentially very effective attacking right full back on their hands.
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