Manchester United have turned their attention to Max Aarons - but why has the young Norwich defender caught their eye?
Aarons has just completed his first full season as a senior professional, making his Sky Bet Championship debut for Norwich in September, as the club went on to top the table and return to the Premier League at the end of the campaign.
But what have we learned about the England U19 right-back? And what will he bring to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's defence if they can prise him away from Carrow Road? Read on for the Aarons lowdown...
Who is Max Aarons?
Aarons was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the cousin of Newcastle winger Rolando Aarons and was on the books with Luton until he was snapped up by Norwich three years ago. But it was not until last year that he signed his first professional contract with the Canaries.
The right-back made his debut in the Carabao Cup against Stevenage on August 14, and celebrated his league bow against East Anglia rivals Ipswich a month later with the kind of mature performance which would characterise his first season as a pro - and end with a spot in the EFL Team of the Year.
What is his game like?
Aarons is in the mould of most successful modern-day full-backs. He gets up and down the pitch well and is adept with the ball as well as without it.
Only two defenders attempted more dribbles than the youngster in the whole of the Championship last season, while he weighed in with six assists from right-back.
His work at the back is a little more difficult to quantify from playing out wide - but he quickly took to the division as an all-energy, athletic and defensively stout addition to the Norwich team after his debut.
Will Norwich let him go?
Aaron Wan-Bissaka's price tag may have put Man United off, but Norwich won't let Aarons go without a fight either. The 19-year-old is one of their brightest prospects in a number of years, even with the equally impressive young Jamal Lewis on the other flank.
Sporting director Stuart Webber told the Pink Un that the lure of a top club may be too much to turn down for Norwich's brightest and best - but that none of the squad had been making noises to leave the club.
"You can never say never," he said. "If one of the huge boys comes in then that conversation might change from their side or whatever.
"Naturally there will come a point when people outgrow you, or you outgrow them. So there might be some of our players moved out in 12 months who have been an unbelievable part of the journey, who we might be selling, because we've gone ahead of them.
"But likewise there might be some players who outgrow us and 'Man United want them, or Liverpool' or whatever and actually we can't compete with that because that's the Champions League and the biggest clubs in the world. But if you take this year, it's almost like, why would you leave?"
What will United expect? Would he be ready to play?
The big question, if United get their man, is how he deals with a second step up in as many seasons, having adapted like a duck to water to the Championship in 2018/19.
Playing as a defender in a Premier League team is a totally different task - especially for a club the size of Man United - but Aarons has already proven himself capable of springing a surprise, and was named by the CIES Football Observatory as the seventh-most experienced player born in the year 2000 earlier this year.
Solskjaer has had no qualms with playing youth since he took over the reigns at Old Trafford last December, blooding in players like Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong towards the end of last season.
Looking back on the way he dealt with the nerves of his first debut - with another one to come if he joins United - in an interview with Pink Un earlier this year, Aarons said: "I was just a whole bag of nerves really, I was really excited but really nervous at the same time, but I think that helped on the day.
"Those nerves can help if you use them in a positive way - I'll never forget that day, it was a great day."
Resaenst
56
I preferred Max Aaron instead of palace dragging their feets not to sell their players witth good offer of $ 55m, they will regret leave them alone and let go for Aaron
DaMhztourage
48
If we are on rebuilding process , we have to exercise patience , and not condemning every efforts by the club in its bid to assemble youthful team with great desire to be successful tomorrow and not mind on money making we have now . Aaron and Wan-Bissaka are running head to head in their respective stats , should have been better to have both on board for rotation purposes .
Anogie
43
Man Utd is the most confused club right now... knowing fully well Aarons had more playing time to prove himself meanwhile we have Dalot who was given little time and he proved himself and made used of it well why not give him more playing time at least 39/48 let's see what his abilities can provide.
Meshybaba247
42
In addiction: this guy pull out 166 crosses! That’s wonderful...this what I want. RB with attacking mindset. If we give this a chance, he is going to be great. Manchester United tradition (RB and LB) always push attacking and make crosses. Kloop studied Sir Alex Ferguson United Era, you can see Robertson and Alexandra Arnold making great crosses(13 assists) each! Let’s wake up, Ole is figuring out something and we need to support him. We need to accept the fact that it will take time.
technology
41
Sign up both! Send Aarons on loan to Palace, By next year he will be ready, Awb aarons Rb Shaw Dalot Lb
Geoffles
35
Why go for a young attacking fb when we have Dalot? AWB has at least shown to be an elite defensive FB and has done it in the PL. very difficult to justify Aarons with Dalot and even Laird already at the club. Too similar.
Meshybaba247
30
I already said it, if we need to rebuild, we need to start buying players from the championship to start with. The price wouldn’t be much and weekly payment will also be affordable. And when you buy a player from championship knowing this is a big opportunity for him at the top level then he will step up his game, Let’s be patient. This is how Sir Alex started.