Spanish newspaper Marca claims this morning that Real Madrid are leading the race to sign highly-rated attacking midfielder Sergio Canales.

Marca add that Barcelona, Sevilla and Arsenal are also tracking Canales who is billed as one of the hottest prospects in Spain and is out of contract at the end of the season.

Canales, 18, is a left-footed attacking midfielder, billed as the "new Julen Guerrero," the former Athletic Bilbao midfielder and Spanish international.

Real Madrid are reportedly hugely impressed with Canales following his substitute appearance for Santander at the Bernabeu on Saturday. Santander lost 1-0 with Canales coming on for 30 minutes of the match to make his third appearance of the season.

IMScouting’s network of scouts in Spain describe Canales as a "very talented young attacking midfielder, who can develop into a very interesting player. Sergio Canales has great vision of the field, is always playing with his head up and seems calm and clever despite his young age. His tactical positioning is also excellent for his age, as he has great awareness with the ball at his feet. He's very good at ghosting in off the left wing and popping up in dangerous areas between the midfield and the forward line, which shows that he's intelligent too."