FC Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans, with Arsenal still in the race to land the Premier League superstar after their failed attempts in the summer.
According to Sport, the La Liga side have added the Belgian to their transfer shortlist as Barcelona begin their search to replace Sergio Busquets in 2023, with Chelsea duo Jorginho and N’Golo Kante also wanted by Xavi Hernandez ahead of the January window.
With Tielemans’ contract due to expire next summer, the Leicester star could be available this January on the cheap as Leicester continue to struggle to get the midfielder to pen a new deal. Yet this update from Catalonia could be a major blow for Arsenal, in particular.
CBS Sports reported that Arsenal were keen to sign Tielemans in the summer but a bid never came in for the 25-year-old, even with the midfielder eager to join the Emirates Stadium club as Leicester endure one of their roughest starts to a season in quite some time.
Indeed, with Barcelona now in the mix to sign Tielemans, there’s a strong chance that the midfielder could now finally win his move away from the King Power Stadium in 2023. And given how stern the Catalan side can be in the market, Arsenal have to watch their backs.
With central midfield likely to be a position Arsenal look to improve on in January, Mikel Arteta’s side face a real possibility of losing out on a long-term target in Tielemans to Barcelona if they don’t act fast enough to sign the former AS Monaco superstar.
Barcelona will sign Tielemans if Arsenal fail to step up their efforts
Hailed as ‘special’ by former Leicester captain Wes Morgan as per Match of the Day, any club in Europe will be happy to sign Tielemans next year, and Barcelona could well be that side if Arsenal fail to increase their efforts to land the midfielder in the coming weeks.
With central midfield still an area of the pitch that the Gunners should be looking to improve, Tielemans could be ideal for Arteta’s system. Yet the threat of Barcelona now looms over the north London side, and Xavi can win the race if he plays his cards right.
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