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Reports coming out of England claim that Arsenal will finally sign Youri Tielemans in the summer.
THE LOWDOWN: LONG-TERM INTEREST
Arsenal’s interest in the 25-year-old is an open secret. They have faced numerous hurdles in their attempts to take him to the Emirates despite the player’s well-publicized wish to move on from Leicester City.
The Gunners even tried in the January transfer window after failing in the summer window but just like the summer window, their attempt failed and they ended up signing Jorginho from Chelsea for £10 million plus an additional £2 million in add-ons.
However, it looks like there is a silver lining in the sky for Arsenal as Tielemans and Leicester are set to part ways in the summer following the Belgian’s refusal to sign a new deal at the King Power stadium.
THE LATEST: TRANSFER UPDATE
Arsenal have always been in the lead for his signature, having already met with the player’s agents on several occasions as well as with Leicester City. This new information gives Arsenal an edge over their rivals for the former RSC Anderlecht man as they have maintained contact despite their failures to sign him in the not-so-distant past.
CBS journalist Ben Jacobs reported this on his show: “Come the summer, if Tielemans is available on a free transfer, there’ll be a variety of clubs looking at him,” Jacobs said.
“Arsenal will still be there for sure and we know that Tielemans very much wanted that move a year ago and was hopeful that something might come off throughout the summer, but Arsenal moved in a different direction.”
Jacobs also corroborated the stories of Arsenal’s continued interest in West Ham United man Declan Rice and Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo.
Both midfielders were January targets of Arsenal’s but in the case of Rice, it was more of an enquiry than an actual attempt to strike a deal. With Caicedo, however, there was resistance from Brighton who insisted on not letting the Ecuadorian go as he is key to their goals this season.
Jacobs says that along with Tielemans, those two midfielders are on Arsenal’s radar for a summer move.
THE VERDICT: TIELEMAS FINALLY?
Tielemans will cost next to nothing thanks to his contract at Leicester City expiring in the summer. However, they will face competition for his signature as they are not the only club interested in his services.
To push the deal across and beat out the competition for Tielemans, they will be counting on an already existing relationship with his representatives and Mikel Arteta’s rapport with the midfielder which was established in the past during their previous attempts to sign him.
