Arsenal are set to recall England Under-21 hot shot Eddie Nketiah from Leeds United.
The young striker moved to Elland Road at the start of the campaign, on a season-long loan deal.
But the Gunners inserted a break clause into the contract, allowing them to recall Nketiah if they weren’t happy with the situation in January.
Now the North London club will recall Nketiah, after just one start in the Championship this term - in the 5-4 weekend win at Birmingham City.
The Whites' Argentine coach, Marcelo Bielsa, has preferred Patrick Bamford as Leeds’ loan striker this term.
Leeds chief executive Angus Kinnear has been trying to persuade Arsenal to let Nketiah remain, explaining last week: “I appreciate much speculation still surrounds the future of Eddie Nketiah and although Arsenal have the right to recall him in January, we still believe he can make a huge impact over the remainder of the season at Leeds United.
However Arsenal will bring back Nketiah to loan him out again for regular minutes in the second half of the season.
Bristol City are keen on taking him to Ashton Gate to boost their own promotion hopes, having also pitched to the Gunners during the summer. Lee Johnson remains a big fan of the forward.
There is also interest from Brentford, who have used Ollie Watkins as their central striker for much of the season thus far, while Nottingham Forest too have been credited with an interest.
Bielsa admitted on Monday that he was uncertain over Nketiah’s future, having seen Tottenham already recall Jack Clarke after a lack of minutes.
"We need to know what is going to happen with Eddie," Bielsa told reporters. "We have to think about another player instead of Jack Clarke and we have to analyse those two decisions.
"If both of them [had] continued with us, we weren't going to incorporate [any new arrivals].
"Now that Clarke is not with us, we must think if it’s necessary to replace him and in the case Eddie doesn’t continue with us, we have to think [of] one more incorporation for sure."
