Manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that new signing Rob Holding could be the one to take over from Per Mertesacker in the Arsenal defence.
The German will be sidelined for months after undergoing knee surgery last month.
Holding has already featured twice for the Gunners in pre-season and scored his first goal for the club in their 3-1 win against Chivas on Monday.
Former Southampton man Calum Chambers is also in a strong position to be involved when the Premier League kicks off later on this month.
"At the moment we have Per Mertesacker out and we have Laurent Koscielny still on holiday, plus Gabriel [Paulista]," Wenger told reporters.
"One of them [Krystian Bielik, Rob Holding or Calum Chambers] will play at the start of the season or at least be in the squad.
"At the moment I have a look at everybody and after I will make my final decision. But as you just said, it’s true that Holding adapted very quickly.
"All the three have top quality and all the three miss a little bit of experience. I’ll have to make a decision in two weeks."
