If anything summed up the fickle nature of football, it’s this.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Youri Tielemans could leave Leicester City for around £30 million this summer with one year left on his contract. And, per The Athletic, Arsenal have held positive early discussions with the Belgian international’s representatives.
Now, if this was 12 months ago – when Tielemans was playing the best football of his admittedly young career, channelling his inner-Ronnie Radford while firing Leicester City to FA Cup glory with one of the most iconic goals in the tournament’s long history – this is a deal that would have been talked about as a bargain for the ages.
Flash forward to 2022 and £30 million for Youri Tielemans feels like, well, more of a risk than it did when Rodgers was washing the champagne out of his hair. Because, as Leicester supporters will tell you, the former Monaco man has been a shadow of his usually effervescent self for some time now.
This is not a classic case of fans turning on a player running down his contract either. But Tielemans’ reluctance to extend his stay at the King Power – coupled with a startling downturn in form – has created a rather tense relationship between himself and the supporters.
Arsenal want Youri Tielemans
Mistakes like the one Tielemans committed against Tottenham Hotspur in January – giving away possession in the build-up to Steven Bergwijn’s dramatic late winner – have started to become commonplace. He’s no longer dominating games like he used to, his usual vice-like grip loosening, and there’s a case to be made that Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has replaced him as Leicester’s most influential midfielder.
In fact, it’s no stretch to suggest that Tielemans is enduring his most sustained, most dramatic slump since completing a club-record £40 million move to the King Power three years ago. A point emphasised by the fact that, in his last 27 games, he’s produced two goals and one assist.
“He audibly frustrated the crowd with his performance,” the Mercury wrote on Sunday, giving Tielemans a 5/10 following the 2-1 home defeat to Everton.
“Very little forward play came off for the Belgian, and his control let him down on more than one occasion as well.”
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This is not to say Arsenal should be getting cold feet. Tielemans is still a wonderfully gifted midfielder. Arguably the best outside of Manchester City and Liverpool just last season. At 25, he’s not even close to his peak and he could prove to be a far better foil for the erratic Thomas Partey than Granit Xhaka.
But a transfer that would have looked like a no-brainer in May 2021 suddenly feels like a risk in May 2022.
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