Preston youngster Lewis Leigh is being monitored by Premier League sides including Arsenal, Leicester, Everton and West Ham, football.london understands.
The 17-year-old is a central midfielder who was released by Liverpool prior to signing for the Lilywhites at under-14 level.
Leigh is expected to sign a new contract at Preston with only one year left on his scholarship deal, but the interest from top flight sides will have come as no surprise after impressing at youth level for the Lancashire side.
When Preston hosted Lincoln City in the FA Youth Cup last season, the teenager was one player who stood out to our sister site LancsLive.
The assessment of Leigh's performance that afternoon read as follows:
'Clearly a fearless midfield player who plays with his heart on his sleeve.
'When the tide of the game swung the way of Lincoln, Leigh stood up to the fight, maintained a high-level of energy in his play and got stuck in.
'Not an overly imposing figure physically, he makes up for that with his aggression and hunger on the pitch. Not afraid of a tackle, to try the ambitious pass or take the shot on.
'Leigh showed a few times that he has the ability to burst forward from midfield, into forward areas and hit the box - which almost led to him opening the scoring in the first half.
'He gets about the pitch well and looked the kind of player you want to see in the middle of the park, not lacking endeavour, spirit or determination.'
Arsenal have already added a new player to their under-23s side in Mika Biereth as they look to build on last season's disappointing campaign.
Meanwhile, a number of youngsters are set to go out on loan with the likes of George Lewis, Ben Cottrell and Jonathan Dinzeyi among the players available for a temporary spell away from teh club.
