There’s a defining moment in every manager’s tenure, that point where the man in charge feels sufficiently heartened by recent results to think about playing the market rather than obsessively refreshing Oddschecker for the price on them being the next out of a job. In Unai Emery’s case, low-level fan TV murmurs following defeats in his first two matches at Arsenal have been replaced with the feet-under-table air of a man basking from three successive wins.

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And so, back to the Mill with him, and word of a potential reunion with Éver Banega, his playmaker of choice at both Valencia and Sevilla. Talk of a £18m buyout clause at the latter for the 30-year-old will be little to scare Arsenal’s new management structure, but may increase the amount of direct mailing Aaron Ramsey gets from his local estate agents. A move for Boca Juniors and Argentina forward Cristian Pavón could raise eyebrows among Emery’s frontline options too.

Ivory Coast winger Nicolas Pépé was said to be another dot on Emery’s radar, before Real Betis and Sevilla also put their hands in the air. All three may end up deflated, however, as Barcelona have perked up having seen the Lille man score four goals in five starts so far this season.

Ed Woodward has found the PIN sentry so Manchester United may be able to release José Mourinho’s transfer shackles – after yesterday’s link with Lucas Paquetá, they may be arm-wrestling Arsenal for Hertha Berlin’s “starlet” midfielder Arne Maier.

The list of January suitors for Gary Cahill is on course to be a list of most Premier League and top-half Championship clubs, with Aston Villa and Watford both making enquiries for the 32-year-old, currently out of favour at Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri.

In reduced circumstances corner, Ross McCormack will be looking to feast on chances offered via the bag-of-cement-sized hole under Usain Bolt’s right boot, as he joins the Jamaican sprint superstar at Central Coast Mariners from Villa on a one-year loan deal. He had spent last season at Melbourne City, after his £12m transfer from Fulham was followed by beef with Steve Bruce, and subsequent cold-shoulder.

The former Inter and Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins, now plying his trade at Shanghai Shenhua, has rejected overtures from Wellington Phoenix. The A-League side had previously also been linked with Michael Essien.