One of the best indicators of Cristhian Mosquera's quality can be found in the sheer number of minutes he has played. Since being drafted into the Valencia team at the age of 19 in August 2023, he has started 70 league games out of a possible 72.

In probably the most challenging position on the pitch tactically, and with all the pressure of playing for one of the biggest clubs in Spain as they navigated a turbulent period, the young centre-back came to be seen as undroppable by two different managers.

His total of 6,394 minutes played across the last two seasons is the highest by anyone aged 21 or under in Europe's top-five leagues. The volume of playing time highlights reliability and robustness. It also gave suitors such as Arsenal plenty to go on.

Image: Cristhian Mosquera has played more minutes than any other player aged 21 or under across the last two seasons in Europe's major leagues

Clearly they liked what they saw, and they were not the only ones, with Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig also said to have tracked him.

The Spain U21 international heads to Arsenal with...