Arsenal have ‘shown interest’ in Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans amongst other potential targets, journalist Rudy Galetti has told GiveMeSport.
The 25-year-old has entered the final six months of his current £120,000-per-week contract at the King Power Stadium and appears set to seek pastures new at the end of the campaign.
Arsenal transfer news – Youri Tielemans
Back in August, Football.London revealed that Arsenal are prepared to wait until Tielemans’ existing deal expires to sign him on a free transfer rather than pay Leicester a fee.
The Gunners are believed to have had an agreement with the Belgium international in place for some time and are confident of getting him despite refusing to pay the Foxes’ asking price.
Leicester were said to be demanding around £32 million for Tielemans, a figure sporting director Edu felt was too high given his contract situation.
Arsenal brought in Jorginho in January after seeing multiple bids for Brighton & Hove Albion’s Moises Caicedo rejected while Albert Sambi Lokonga left for Crystal Palace on loan.
Mohamed Elneny’s contract is also due to expire in the summer, although the capital club do have the option to extend his stay by a further 12 months, meaning there could be plenty of room for Tielemans in Mikel Arteta’s plans.
What has Galetti said about Tielemans?
Galetti has told GMS that Tielemans decided to ‘remain at Leicester’ in the winter window for various reasons and that he is ‘just one of the names’ being assessed by Arsenal.
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He said: “I reported days ago, Youri Tielemans preferred to remain at Leicester in January to choose carefully the next destination in the summer and to maximise his new contract.
“Arsenal have shown interest in him, but Tielemans is just one of the names in their midfield list.”
Who else could Arsenal sign?
Arsenal saw two bids rebuffed by Brighton for Caicedo last month as the south coast club were determined to hold onto their prized asset for the remainder of the season.
The 21-year-old made his intentions to move to the league leaders clear, and they could revive their interest in him when the market reopens for business once more.
Caicedo has registered five goal contributions in 32 appearances for Brighton, catching the eye with his ability to break-up opposition attacks before kickstarting ones of his own.
Only time will tell if Arsenal opt to sign Tielemans, Caicedo or another midfield target, but both players certainly appear to be on their radar at this moment in time.