Arsenal’s pursuit of Leicester City and Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans is “one to watch” according to Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports.
The 25-year-old has been linked with a move to Mikel Arteta’s side throughout the summer, with the club looking for midfield reinforcements this summer.
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What’s the latest on Tielemans?
Tielemans, who has been described as "elite", has been on Arsenal’s radar throughout the summer, with the Belgian midfielder having just one-year remaining on his current contract at the King Power Stadium.
The Sun reported earlier in July that the Gunners are prepared to bid £30m for the 52-time Belgium international this summer, and are confident of beating Manchester United to the signature of the midfielder.
The same report states Arsenal had also been interested in signing Wolverhampton Wanderers and Portugal midfielder Rúben Neves, but were put off by Wolves’ £75m valuation of the player.
And talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook has previously told GIVEMESPORT that talks for Leicester star have “ramped up” over recent days.
He told GIVEMESPORT: “I think they are back in again, as talks have ramped up.”
And Jacobs believes that the Gunners’ potential move for the £59m-rated man is still “one to watch” but that Arteta will also be assessing other midfield options ahead of August’s Premier League kick-off.
What has Jacobs said about Tielemans?
He told GIVEMESPORT: “Youri Tielemans to Arsenal is still one to watch but Arteta is biding his time and looking at other options, too.
“Tielemans is still more likely than Sergej Milinković-Savić”
Will Tielemans move to Arsenal?
The Tielemans transfer saga seems to have dragged on throughout the summer, but most of the noises are suggesting that Arsenal are confident of securing the Leicester man’s signature, despite not yet making an official bid to Brendan Rodgers’ side for the midfielder.
Another thing to factor in, is that the Gunners are also actively looking at other midfield targets, suggesting that the move might not be as certain as originally thought.
According to a report in July in the Express, Arsenal technical director Edu is also looking at the potential signing of the aforementioned Lazio and Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinković-Savić.
It’s unlikely that Arteta would require both Tielemans and Milinković-Savić so you’d expect that should Arsenal choose to sign the latter, then that would potentially put a move for the Leicester star into doubt.
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the Gunners to submit an official bid, if they do, for Tielemans and whether their interest is genuine, or if it’s an attempt to keep other Premier League clubs away from signing the midfielder.