Liverpool hotly tipped by bookmakers to sign Brighton's Yves Bissouma in January

Bissouma has been in fine form for Brighton this season and his displays have alerted people in high places at Liverpool and Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta is said to be a huge fan of the Mali international and believes he would be an upgrade of Arsenal's current midfield crop.

Liverpool continue to monitor the situation and could be poised to swoop as uncertainty surrounds the future of Reds midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

Jurgen Klopp's Premier League champions are favourites to land the 24-year-old in January and PaddyPower have them priced at 7/2.

The Gunners are close behind at 5/1, Everton are 7/1, while Leicester and West Ham are also said to be in the running at 9/1 and 12/1 respectively.

Bissouma was Albion's best player on the pitch last night as they suffered a narrow and painful 2-1 Premier League loss to Southampton at the Amex Stadium.

Bissouma is contracted until summer 2023 and Albion head coach Graham Potter remains relaxed about his midfielder's future.

"I have never been a coach that worries about losing a player," said Potter ahead of Southampton. "If you worry about losing players to teams higher up the hierarchy – because that’s ultimately what it is – and the club think selling the player is the right thing to do, then it’s a result of doing something well, I don’t think you should ever worry about that.

"It’s part of football and a lot of it is talk, speculation or nonsense. There’s always truth as well somewhere, but I am not worried about anything.

"I am just helping the players to improve, to get them to the highest level of performance that I can and then we will see."