Leicester City face a ‘big concern’ over the future of star midfielder Youri Tielemans following a summer of speculation, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The 25-year-old was heavily tipped to depart the King Power Stadium following three-and-a-half successful seasons at the club, but surprisingly ended up staying put after Thursday’s 11 pm deadline.

What is the latest news involving Tielemans?

Tielemans has entered the final year of his current £120,000-per-week contract with Leicester, and as a result, was reportedly attracting the attention of several Premier League clubs.

Arsenal were the side believed to be at the front of the queue for the Belgium international’s signature, yet a formal offer failed to materialise.

Back in May, The Telegraph reported that Mikel Arteta was pushing the Gunners’ hierarchy to make a £25 million bid for Tielemans as he looked to bolster his engine room options.

However, GOAL then revealed that Arsenal had cooled their pursuit in the technician as they focussed their attention on bringing in other targets such as Gabriel Jesus.

And Football.London then stated that the capital club were prepared to wait 12 months to sign Tielemans on a free transfer after Leicester upped their asking price to £32m.

What has O’Rourke said about Tielemans?

It was an extremely difficult window for Leicester, who lost Wesley Fofana and Kasper Schmeichel and only brought in Wout Faes and Alex Smithies as direct replacements.

And O’Rourke believes the Foxes will be worried about losing Tielemans for nothing next summer due to his contract situation.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, he said: “Tielemans will be staying at Leicester until January at least, but the big concern for Leicester is that he could walk out on a free transfer next summer.”

How big a loss would Tielemans be?

Tielemans has established himself as one of the top midfielders outside of the top six clubs since arriving on English shores, racking up almost 50 goal contributions in just over 160 appearances.

In that time, the "outstanding" 5 foot 9 ace has played a pivotal part in Leicester claiming the FA Cup and Community Shield as well as consecutive fifth-placed finishes in the Premier League.

Losing him would, therefore, surely be a bitter blow to what Brendan Rodgers is attempting to achieve with the Midlands outfit, especially following their disappointing start to the current campaign.

Only time will tell if Tielemans puts pen to paper on fresh terms or walks away from free, but it is going to be a tense few months for everyone associated with Leicester.