Report: £34m player is now not joining Arsenal, Edu was in ‘secret negotiations’ for someone else

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Arsenal signing Youri Tielemans is now not happening, according to a report.

The Gunners have looked set for a couple of weeks to sign the Leicester City midfielder.

Earlier in June, it was reported that Arsenal were confident of bringing the Belgium international to North London.

However, Mikel Arteta and Edu have seemingly signed Fabio Vieira in a £34 million deal, with the Brazilian director having had ‘secret negotiations‘ to secure his signature, according to Fabrizio Romano.

And Sky Sports has reported that Tielemans – who would cost the same amount – is no longer a target for the Emirates Stadium outfit, who have ‘cooled’ their interest in the player.

The report adds that in all likelyhood Tielemans will now sign a one-year contract extension at the King Power Stadium to prevent him from leaving on a Bosman this time next summer.

It’s a bit of a gamble by Arsenal to snub the Belgian midfielder and sign Vieira instead.

Listen, clearly Vieira is a massive prospect and, at 22, is only going to get better.

However, Tielemans is a proven Premier League footballer and that fact alone means he probably would’ve enjoyed a smooth transition to life in North London.

And although Vieira could well adapt to Arsenal like a duck to water, there could potentially be a much slower transition period.

That being said, Vieira’s former Porto teammate, Luis Diaz, joined Liverpool during the winter and started like a house on fire.

So the Gunners will be hoping that the young playmaker can enjoy similar immediate success at the Emirates.