Arsenal are in the race for 19-year-old Fenerbahce defensive midfielder Oguz Kagan Guctekin, with reports in Italy suggesting the North London club are one of the options the player is interested in.

Calciomercato report that the youngster likes Manchester City, Arsenal, AS Roma and Bayer Leverkusen as options if he leaves his current club. Roma are pushing for his transfer, but they haven’t shaken off the competition just yet.

The youngster has a contract with his current club until 2020.

Guctekin broke into the Fenerbahce team last year, at just 18 years old. He has eight league appearances since then, plus another five starts in the Turkish Cup. Clearly his progress is starting to draw the attention of clubs around Europe.

For his country, Guctekin is yet to get an opportunity at senior level, but he’s currently the captain of the u19s, playing every minute of their three Euro u19 qualifiers in March.

Defensive midfield is one area where Arsenal could maybe do with an upgrade at youth level. The academy has plenty of forwards and attacking midfielders (especially if Adli joins from PSG), and quite a large number of centre-backs and goalkeepers as well.

By comparison, defensive midfield options are fairly limited. Guctekin could therefore make a good addition, and would have a clearer path to the first team if he joined. We’ll see if he does.