Arsenal are yet to sign any first-team players in the January transfer window with deadline day now less than two weeks away.
However, Mikel Arteta's side have been linked with a host of top-class players across Europe, including Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic and Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo.
Another name that has been mooted as a potential target is Nottingham Forest right-back Djed Spence, with The Mirror reporting that the Gunners are interested in the Englishman to provide competition for Japan international Takhiero Tomiyasu, who joined from Bologna in August.
With that being said, football.london takes a look at what qualities Spence has and how he would fare at the Emirates Stadium if he was signed this month.
Who is Djed Spence?
Aged just 21, Spence is a talented full-back born in London.
He is primarily a right-back, currently plying his trade with Nottingham Forest, on loan from fellow Championship side Middlesbrough until the end of the current campaign.
Why do Arsenal want him?
The Gunners saw first-hand how talented the Englishman is during their 1-0 loss to Forest in the third round of the FA Cup earlier this month, with Spence keeping Gabriel Martinelli quiet for 90 minutes whilst also offering an attacking threat going forward.
Spence completed a whopping six dribbles from an attempted seven, including an inspired run down the right flank as he skipped past three Arsenal players, nutmegging Martin Odegaard on the way before Martinelli fouled him on the halfway line.
He also won 12 of his 14 ground duels whilst registering three clearances, four interceptions and two tackles - a hugely impressive display to help his team knock out Arteta's side from the competition in historic fashion.
The 21-year-old's rare blend of defensive nous and attacking prowess would undoubtedly make him a solid option to challenge Tomiyasu, with Arsenal's current deputy Cedric Soares possessing very limited with the ball at his feet.
Spence is also homegrown, something the north Londoners will be looking for in targets considering the futures of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Calum Chambers remains uncertain.
What has been said?
Arsenal icon Ian Wright was thoroughly impressed with the youngster during the win against his old side.
Speaking about Spence on the Wrighty’s House podcast, Wright said: "I saw him after the game and said 'listen, my friend. You're on loan from Middlesbrough and I don't know what's happened there, because if you can't get into the Middlesbrough side, I don't know what's wrong, so I need to know the full story'.
"But let me say, that was one of the best right-back performances I have seen for a very long time. A very long time.
"If we are talking about right-backs performing at an unbelievable level, we're talking Reece James and Trent [Alexander-Arnold].
"But I have not seen a combative, technical, swashbuckling performance like that for a very long time.
"I said to him afterwards, 'whatever's happening, whatever you're doing, the level you've just shown us here is the level you have to be consistently hitting, Djed'.
“I said ‘All seriously, that level what I saw there, you should be in the Premier League’.”
