Real Betis are the latest club to flutter their eyelashes at Aleks Zinchenko in the January transfer window.
But the fact is that Manchester City will not be letting the Ukraine international go, and he is more likely to be talking over a new deal at the end of the season than heading through the exit door.
Zinchenko has been one of the unsung success stories of the Pep Guardiola era.
He is a player who has twice come close to leaving, amid strong interest from Premier League clubs like Wolves, Crystal Palace and Newcastle.
That came after an unremarkable loan spell at PSV Eindhoven, when he was relegated to the youth team after being signed up as a senior squad player.
Returning to City with an unfulfilling loan under his belt, there seemed to be nothing down for him as Guardiola’s side ramped it up in his second season, and other clubs sensed they could snap him up on the cheap.
He snubbed those moves, determined to make a name for himself at City, and started to impress the new manager on the training ground and when he got the occasional game - he only made his Blues debut in October 2017, in a League Cup penalty shoot-out win against Wolves.
Guardiola was also impressed when, after a tough, wintry trip to Huddersfield a month later, Zinchenko headed for the gym when the team coach pulled back into the City Football Academy - on a freezing Sunday evening.
Two weeks later he was making his Premier League debut, as a sub in a 4-0 win at Swansea, and observers at the CFA noticed how technically proficient he was in the rondos - the keep-ball games that are at the nub of Guardiola’s training.
Top-class footballers like David Silva, Yaya Toure and Kevin De Bruyne were expected to excel, but Zinchenko was as good as any of them.
But fitting him into the team was another matter.
It was only when Fabian Delph, asked to deputise for the injured Benjamin Mendy, was himself crocked, that Zinchenko got a run in the team.
An attacking midfielder, he was suddenly asked to slot in at left-back and, like Delph before him he did a great job.
With Mendy’s injury problems spilling into the next season, Zinchenko and Delph were the Blues’ go-to left-backs, and the Ukrainian gradually became first-choice as his defensive abilities improved.
Perhaps more importantly, his natural attacking instincts and quick, accurate passing game made him a natural for Guardiola’s inverted full-back tactic, urging his full-backs to get forward into midfield and link up with the attacking players.
Zinchenko had arguably established himself as first-choice left back, even when Mendy started to play again, until Joao Cancelo stepped into the role last season and made an outstanding success.
Zinchenko has suffered from his own injury and Covid problems this season, but reminded everyone of his assuredness on the ball with excellent performances when Kyle Walker was out, and Cancelo asked to switch to right back.
Cancelo and Zinchenko have made the fans’ calls for a left back virtually redundant, even though neither is a natural in the position.
With a squad noticeably smaller than their Premier League title rivals, and the departure of Ferran Torres trimming it further, City are not about to let anyone go in this transfer window.
Betis are interested, while Serie A club Genoa were also taking a close look, until their coach, and Uljraine legend, Andriy Shevchenko, was sacked last week.
They are wasting their time. Zinchenko has made no noises about leaving, and with his contract running until 2024, talks about a possible new deal are not urgent.
