Arsene Wenger confirmed his interest in Schalke midfielder Lewis Holtby, while also revealing he was close to signing Demba Ba in the summer.
Holtby is one of the most coveted players in the January transfer window, with his contract set to expire at the end of the season.
The Schalke playmaker is understood to prefer a move to the English Premier League, and has been closely watched by Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham.
It is also likely that Holtby, whose father is English and an Everton supporter, will hold talks with the Premier League clubs this month and come to a pre-contract agreement before moving on a free transfer in the summer.
Wenger, talking to reporters ahead of the FA Cup match against Swansea on Sunday, surprisingly revealed his interest, but refused to be drawn out on whether he would make a bid for him in January or take him on a free at the end of the season.
"We have looked at (Holtby), yes," he told reporters.
The Arsenal manager admitted he was in for Ba in the summer, not in January, but chose to sign Olivier Giroud due to concerns over the soon-to-be Chelsea player's knees.
"It was Giroud or Demba Ba in the summer -- they are very similar players," Wenger said. "I was a bit cautious about the noises on Ba's knee injury, but someone told me the problem he has is manageable and can be prevented."
Wenger also said there was more pressure on the clubs to find the next Lionel Messi and said he was looking at other avenues of unearthing players.
"People want to see the next Lionel Messi -- they don't want to see a promising guy," he added. "The name of the player gives people hope, but when they haven't heard of them people are already sceptical.
"It's much more difficult for us now. The competition is higher. We are trying to diversify a bit more because we are limited in England. A new market that is very interesting is Japan -- it's very competitive.
"The country where we were really competitive in the past was France, but they produce less top players than they did, say, 15 years ago.
"The emerging countries look to be Germany and Spain -- they have taken over from France and they have many good, young players."