Red Bull Salzburg are reportedly ready to battle Bolton for the signature of Japan international Alex.
The Urawa Red Diamonds ace is being tipped to move on in January and Bolton boss Sam Allardyce has confirmed an interest.
But Allardyce may have competition in his attempts to bring Alex to The Reebok Stadium with news of interest from Salzburg.
The Austrian side are keen to move into the lucrative Asian market and are looking to Alex and Gamba Osaka's Tsuneyasu Miyamoto to raise the club's profile in the region.
Miyamoto would like the chance to ply his trade outside of Japan at some point in his career and could get his wish if a deal can be agreed between the two clubs.
However, Salzburg boss Giovanni Trappatoni is adamant he won't be rushed into making any moves in January.
"We have a good squad here, we won't be putting pressure on ourselves to sign new players," he said.