Arsenal have been told to finalise a deal for Youri Tielemans sooner rather than later as the Leicester City midfielder is getting ‘fed up’ of waiting for a transfer.
Tielemans will not extend his contract at Leicester, making a summer move from the King Power likely. His current deal expires in 2023, which means Arsenal or any other interested club should be able to capture him for a lower price.
Arsenal are widely seen as the strongest suitors for Tielemans. That is despite interest also coming from Manchester United and Newcastle.
On Monday, the Gunners put Lens captain Seko Fofana on their shortlist as a possible alternative to Tielemans.
A day later, football.london claimed Arsenal are coming up with a new plan to sign Tielemans. They believe Mikel Arteta’s side will wait until next year before launching a move for him.
However, this might not work in Arsenal’s favour. That’s because transfer insider Dean Jones thinks the Belgian ace is becoming ‘fed up’ that his Leicester exit is taking so long.
During an interview with GiveMeSport, Jones said:“I think Tielemans has got a bit fed up of waiting for this.
“It’s been a long time we’ve been talking about him going to Arsenal or Manchester United, but the situation is still the same and nobody has actually knocked on the door with an offer.
Arsenal have done ‘background work’ on Youri Tielemans
“We know that Arsenal have a genuine interest and they’ve got all of the background work done on him and they’ve even got their proposed terms set up for if they were to go ahead with this one.”
Arsenal clearly have plans to sign Tielemans at some point, though they are holding back right now. Perhaps Arteta wants to get a couple of players out the door before sanctioning a bid.
However, the Gunners are taking a big risk in keeping Tielemans waiting. Other big European teams, including Real Madrid, are known to admire him. And if Arsenal fail to swoop in at the right time then Tielemans could snub them altogether and join a club such as Real instead.
Tielemans would be a quality addition to Arteta’s midfield. He is a proven Premier League player who can make a big impact on crucial games.
He would be an upgrade on Granit Xhaka, who has a tendency to get sent off when Arsenal need him most.
Signing Tielemans would allow Arteta to partner him with Thomas Partey at the Emirates. This would be a fearsome midfield two. And with Martin Odegaard just in front, Arsenal could cause opposition teams plenty of problems.
This transfer saga is definitely one to keep an eye on before the end of the window. Arsenal might make a last-ditch play to sign Tielemans if he makes his frustration at waiting known to them.
Meanwhile, Albert Sambi Lokonga is one of the players who could be let go by Arsenal.
