Replacing Gabriel Magalhaes isn't a serious topic for Arsenal right now. After all, top central defenders have been known to play on well into their late 30s and even early 40s.

However, the Premier League champions must always think ahead in their forward planning if they are to remain at the summit of English football, particularly when it comes to evolving and improving the quality of Mikel Arteta's squad.

Gabriel is a force of nature and has been absolutely imperative to the seismic shift in fortunes at the Emirates Stadium under their Spanish manager.

Ultimately, he won't be around forever, though, and there is a certain left-sided centre-back whose reputation and stock are now growing rapidly.

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His name is Tarik Muharemovic, Leeds' imposing Bosnian who only arrived in the Premier League this summer from Italian outfit Sassuolo.

The ex-Juventus Next Gen starlet was wanted by Juve and Inter Milan in the summer but opted to move to Elland Road instead.

It's a decision he is unlikely to regret as he's made an instant impact in Yorkshire and is now being lauded as one of the best defenders in the Premier League so far this season.

Unfortunately for Leeds, he is going to be someone that Champions League clubs will examine closely, and Arsenal should be among them.

Right now, it's hard to distinguish whether he's firing on all cylinders because he flourishes in a back-three and an organised defensive structure that is comfortable protecting its own box or whether he actually has the tools to go to the next level.

Either way, the Gunners should keep tabs on his development. Like Gabriel, Muharemovic has played every minute of the Premier League season thus far.

He has made 0.7 tackles per 90, half of Gabriel's 1.4 but he's made more interceptions per 90 (1.4) than the Brazilian (0.9). He's also made fewer fouls (0.5) than Gabriel (0.8) per 90 while also making more clearances (8.5) than the Arsenal stalwart (5.7).

Overall, he has a marginally better Who Scored rating (7.3) than the Premier League champion (7.28) and has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water. At 23 - just one year older than Gabriel was when he signed for Arsenal - there is so much scope for him to grow and develop.

Muharemovic is 6ft 4in tall and while he's not the finished article yet, he has the perfect physical qualities to compete with Premier League forwards. He was excellent on Saturday against Tottenham, recording 10 defensive contributions while helping keep a vital clean sheet.

He also featured for his country Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup this summer and has experience playing in Serie A, a notoriously tactical league where centre-backs are expected to progress the ball forward into midfield.

The stopper has plenty of attributes to get excited about and the left-sided centre-back market is usually fairly sparse, which is partially why Muharemovic is turning heads.

Finding a long-term successor for Gabriel, 28, is definitely not among Arsenal's top priorities right now but they are not as well stocked at left centre-back as they are at right centre-back following Ezri Konsa's arrival, on top of already having Cristhian Mosquera. Sadly for Leeds, Muharemovic has quickly become one of the Premier League's worst-kept secrets.