Arsenal have suffered a blow to their hopes of landing Espanyol centre-back Mario Hermoso with the news Real Madrid view him as a serious option.
Hermoso was a key man for Espanyol throughout the recently concluded La Liga season and played a big role in helping the Catalan club qualify for the Europa League.
Espanyol have been clear that they want to keep their team together over the course of the summer, with only those leaving whose buy-out clauses are met or who demand to go.
Arsenal are showing interest in Hermoso and have been linked with a €20m bid, which would activate his release clause.
But according to Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid are increasingly looking at Hermoso as an affordable option, with chatter around the defender in Madrid.
Los Blancos have an option to re-sign Hermoso for around the €7m mark and are giving serious consideration to doing so.
Sergio Ramos could leave Real Madrid this summer and if the centre-back leaves then Real Madrid believe bringing Hermoso back would represent smart business.
And if Hermoso returned to the Bernabeu, Arsenal would be forced to look at other defensive targets.
