Arsenal are reportedly “ready” to make an “offer” to sign Youri Tielemans from Leicester in January as he is their “priority” target in centre-midfield.
It was initially expected that Tielemans would join Arsenal in the summer as he entered the final 12 months of his contract with Leicester City.
The Foxes demanded around £30m for the midfielder at the time but none of their rivals moved to recruit him so he was made to stay where he is for now.
This has not deterred Tielemans too much as he has been one of Leicester’s best performers this season.
They started the 2022/23 campaign poorly as they were in the bottom three but they have now started to rise up the Premier League table.
But they may be hampered in January with it looking possible that Tielemans will finally get a move elsewhere.
One of Arsenal’s priorities is to sign a new centre-midfielder and TEAMtalk transfer expert Graeme Bailey has suggested that Tielemans is “not seen as a risk”.
He would likely be available for £15-20m in the winter transfer window and Bailey is reporting that the Gunners are “ready to try and entice Leicester with an offer”.
“Youri Tielemans has been an outstanding Premier League performer ever since he arrived at Leicester and 2023 will see him leave the King Power Stadium… it’s now just a matter of when?” Bailey told TEAMtalk.
“Arsenal want a midfielder and Tielemans is now seen as their priority after following him for more than 12 months. He is not seen as a risk, but somebody who can compliment what they already have.
“The Gunners are ready to try and entice Leicester with an offer in January, but if not they will look to land him at the end of the season.
“A January deal could also be helped if Leicester manage to bring in some sort of midfield cover, and that could very well be in the shape of Azzedine Ounahi.
“The Angers man has impressed at the World Cup for Morocco, and he is a player who the Foxes like.”
Arsenal have enjoyed a brilliant start to the new season as they sit top of the Premier League table at Christmas.
It is expected that they will be busy in January as the club’s board are prepared to back Mikel Arteta in the transfer market.
As well as a new centre-midfielder, they are also looking to recruit a new winger.
It is well-known that their priority target in that position is Shakhtar Donetsk’s Mykhaylo Mudryk.
The Ukrainian club have publicly stated that they value him at around £87m but The Athletic’s David Ornstein suspects that he will end up costing less than that.
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