Earlier this week a report surfaced suggesting that Newcastle United, Aston Villa and even Sunderland were eyeing a move for Lazio midfielder Matteo Guendouzi.
Newcastle have been linked with Matteo Guendouzi before, so it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that we'd still be looking at him.
What threw us was that Sunderland are also tracking the former Arsenal man which instantly suggested to us that if he was good enough for Sunderland, he wasn't good enough for us.
However, after looking at Guendouzi's stats last season, it may well be the other way around and indeed, Sunderland are looking at trying to land a bigger fish than they're used to.
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Matteo Guendouzi has improved massively since leaving Arsenal
It's easy to dismiss Guendouzi after his time in the Premier League with Arsenal as he hardly lit the world on fire, but it's also easy to forget he was just a teenager at the time. One of his best performances for the Gunners came against Newcastle, where talent scout Jacek Kulig referred to him as a 'monster in the making'.
The France international has played in Germany, France and Italy since and has become a much more rounded player.
Last season, he was among the best midfielders in Europe's top five leagues on several metrics according to FBref.
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Matteo Guendouzi could actually be a soild addition for Eddie Howe
Guendouzi ranked among the top 10% of midfielders across Europe's top five leagues for pass completion, the top 5% for progressive passes, the top 7% for progressive carries and the top 19% for shot-creating actions per 90.
Those are some pretty impressive numbers and suggest he'd be an excellent signing for Eddie Howe, although he is valued at £43 million and plays in the centre of midfield, which is an area that we don't necessarily need to strengthen right now.
There's always a chance that Sean Longstaff and/or Joe Willock are sold this summer, which would create an opening for a midfielder, but by then, Guendouzi will likely be off the market, and we doubt he'd want to come to sit on the bench for much of the season anyway.
Still, after looking into him more, we'd certainly not be opposed to him arriving at St James' Park.