Arsenal Facing Competition from Barcelona as Race for Polish Wonderkid Hots Up

​Arsenal are reportedly monitoring the progress of 18-year-old Polish defender Sebastian Walukiewicz, but face a battle among a host of top European clubs for his signature.

The youngster has been part of Poland's international set-up since the age of 14 and has featured at every single level, from the Under-15s.

According to Football.London, the Polish Under-20 defender has been touted as a possible acquisition for the north London outfit by the Gunners' Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat, who has sent out several scouts to watch the defender in action for club side Pogoń Szczecin.

Walukiewicz began his career in the youth ranks at current league holders Legia Warsaw, but left the side for free in the summer of 2017. He mostly featured for Szczecin's B team last campaign, but started two of the first team's concluding three league matches, as the side ended up finishing 11th.

This campaign, the defender has cemented his place in the first team. He has appeared in 13 of their 15 league games, starting eleven of them, with his last outing ending in a 2-1 victory over former side Legia. Szczecin currently sit seventh in the Polish top tier, nine points behind leaders Lechia Gdańsk.

Mislintat has helped instill a youthful exuberance at ​Arsenal with the signings of Konstantinos Mavropanos and Mattéo Guendouzi in the past year and the German is hopeful of Walukiewicz following the trend under Unai Emery.

However, the Gunners have a task on their hands to ward-off other suitors from ​La Liga and ​Serie A. It is believed that ​Barcelona have also been scouting the defender and have been impressed with his development.

He has helped to keep four clean sheets already this season and has also provided one assist, and should he manage to maintain his form, he could earn a move to a top European club, where success may follow.