According to Cadena Ser in Spain, Unai Emery is assessing a January bid for Real Valladolid defender Fernando Calero.

The 23-year-old, an ever-present in La Liga this season, has been linked with a couple of big clubs, including Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla. Interest is particularly hot right now, as it’s said he has a clause in his contract that means he’s available for as little as €11 million next month.

Having just lost Rob Holding for the rest of the season and with Dinos Mavropanos still sidelined, the Gunners are short on bona fide centre-backs at the moment.

Laurent Koscielny is set to make his long-awaited return from injury this week but at 33-years-old there are doubts about his long-term future. It means, much responsibility currently rests on the shoulders of Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis, both of whom will be suspended on Sunday when Arsenal travel to Southampton.

It’s a bit early to tell whether we have any real interest in Calero but you’d expect us to be assessing a few names ahead of the January transfer window opening in three weeks.

The Dortmund link is interesting…we can only assume Sven’s wholesale bugging of the Westfalenstadion is still paying dividends.