Arsenal added some extra depth to the left-back position of their squad by securing a summer transfer deal for Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.
As things stand, the Gunners have the Ukrainian and Kieran Tierney in their squad as predominant left-backs.
Despite those options, it seems as though the north London club have their eyes on bringing in another left-back in the near future, one that we feel could be an upgrade on Tierney.
According to a report from Tuttomercatoweb last week, Arsenal have an interest in signing Benfica full-back, Alejandro Grimaldo.
With 260 appearances for the Portuguese club under his belt, the 26-year-old has 20 goals and 53 assists to his name, highlighting his clear attacking prowess.
To compare his previous domestic campaign with Tierney’s, the Spaniard had over double the number of shots at goal than the Scotsman (33 vs 15), with a higher rate of those shots being on target (42.4% vs 33.3%).
Grimaldo also managed to deliver 100 more crosses than the Arsenal figure last season as well (172 vs 72), further showcasing how much of an attacking threat he carries from the left-back position.
Even from a defensive point of view, the Benfica star won 20 more tackles than Tierney (32 vs 12), showing how tough he can be to play against without the ball.
Lauded by Benfica’s sporting director, Tiago Pinto, as “one of the best five left-backs in Europe”, it’s easy to see why Grimaldo is reportedly on Arsenal’s radar.
Having been linked with a move to Manchester City over the summer for a potential fee of €20m (£16.8m), the left-back could well find himself surrounded by a range of clubs looking to sign him in January or the next summer transfer window, which is when his current contract is set to expire.
Moving forward, if Arsenal do look to sign him as a free agent, this could be a very impressive bit of business from the club given the clear talent the player has.
