Despite reports of interest in Jerome Boateng, Arsenal are looking at three other Bundesliga centre-backs ahead of the Bayern Munich man.

Sky Germany (via HITC) report that there are three Bundesliga centre-backs ahead of Boateng on the Arsenal summer transfer shortlist.

Mikel Arteta prefers to sign a younger, quicker defender, to allow his team to play a high defensive line. According to the report, these are the current options:

• Dayot Upamecano – RB Leipzig. 21 years old, with 29 appearances this season and 15 games for the France u21s under his belt. His contract expires in 2021, but Arsenal would face interest from other top clubs for his signature.
• Jonathan Tah – Bayer Leverkusen. 24 years old, 32 appearances this season and nine career caps for Germany. He has a longer contract, lasting until 2023, but that deal reportedly has a €40m release clause.
• Evan Ndicka – Eintracht Frankfurt. 20 years old, 25 appearances this season and one appearance for the France u21s. The youngest of the group and with the most still to prove. He also has a contract until 2023, and has the advantage of being left-footed, something Arsenal were lacking in centre-backs before the loan of Pablo Mari.

Finally, Boateng, who is seemingly a backup option. We’ve already written about the latest updates on the links between him and Arsenal.

Whether they end up pushing to sign one of this group or someone else entirely, at least the suggestion is that Arsenal are actively looking for upgrades.