Barcelona defender Alejandro Balde has now said he loves the Premier League, amid reports linking him with Arsenal.
Balde was speaking to Spanish outlet Sport, as his career goes from strength to strength.
The 19-year-old was just breaking into the Barcelona first team last season, mainly sitting on the bench.
Just 12 months later, he’s Barcelona’s first choice left-back and played four games at the World Cup for Spain.
It’s a meteoric rise in such a short space of time, and has unsurprisingly caught the attention of other clubs.
Arsenal and Newcastle were both linked with a move for Balde in January, although the defender was in discussions with Barcelona over a new contract.
However, the financial issues the Catalan giants are dealing with were making it difficult to register Balde.
If these problems persist Arsenal may try to tempt Balde to make the move to the Premier League.
The teenager may be tempted, having expressed his love for England’s top flight.
Arsenal target Balde a fan of the Premier League
Balde was asked by Sport if he could see himself playing for another team due to his style of play.
“Well, nowadays many teams… You watch Bayern and they have full-backs that go up like crazy, in the Premier League if you watch matches all the full-backs go up,” Balde said.
“Nowadays I think there are a lot of teams that play with a style where the full-backs go up a lot. That’s what I like. I like it a lot.”
Balde is one of the most exciting young full-backs in Europe right now.
Pundit Stewart Robson recently said he’s even better than Manchester City starlet Rico Lewis.
“I would say Balde [over Lewis], he’s an exceptional player,” said Robson.
“I think he has done really well. He’s a top-class player and he will be for some while, so I am going to go with him, at the moment.”
Oleksandr Zinchenko has established himself as Mikel Arteta’s first choice left-back since arriving in the summer.
There were reports suggesting his deputy Kieran Tierney could leave in January.
If he does, Arsenal may explore the option of bringing Balde to the Premier League.
He would suit Arteta’s style of play with his bombing runs forward, and has the potential to continue improving.
However, if his new contract gets ratified, his £441 million release clause will likely be enough to put the Gunners off.