Arsenal have Anderlecht’s Sergio Gomez on their transfer shortlist, likely as an alternative to the proposed deal for Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Fabrizio Romano reports that Anderlecht left-back Sergio Gomez is on Arsenal’s transfer shortlist alongside Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Zinchenko appears to be the more likely deal at the moment, with reports suggesting a deal could even be agreed in the next few days. But the Gunners clearly have a backup plan if they need one.

Just like Zinchenko and Manchester United-bound Lisandro Martinez, a notable aspect of Gomez’s career so far is that he’s been used in central midfield as well as at left-back.

It can’t be a coincidence that all three of Arsenal’s targets for the position have the same history of occasional appearances in the middle.

Some have suggested that the plan could be to push up the left-back into a left-central midfield role in possession, allowing Mikel Arteta to pick a more attack-minded midfielder ahead of them.

Last season, Granit Xhaka generally played that role, but Arsenal would be less reliant on him by using a defender who was also comfortable in the build-up.

Gomez previously played for Borussia Dortmund and SD Huesca, before joining Anderlecht in 2021. He started out in the Barcelona academy system, but it’s taken him a few different senior moves to find his best form.

The 21-year-old certainly appeared to be on top of his game in 2021/22, scoring seven and assisting 15 in his debut campaign for Anderlecht.

If Arsenal end up moving for him, they’ll hope he can replicate that form in the Premier League.