Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has made signing a centre-back a “top priority” for the January transfer window, according to the Daily Star.

With Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz all having contracts that expire next summer, the Gunners have decided that another defender is needed, despite the club struggling to score goals at the other end of the pitch.

Scouts are reportedly looking across the world for a potential signing, and the Star claim that they have “watched” Juventus’s Merih Demiral as they consider possible options.

The Turkish international has been linked with a move to the Emirates in the past but a bid for the 22-year-old is thought to be very unlikely now he is a regular starter for Juve under manager Andrea Pirlo.

It remains to be seen who Arsenal will go after. Bayern Munich’s Jerome Boateng and RB Leipzig’s Ibrahima Konate are two other names that have been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks.