Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal could be able to sign Youri Tielemans from Premier League rivals Leicester City for £17 million in the January transfer window, according to The Daily Mail.
The report has claimed that Arsenal have long been interested in signing Tielemans, but they did not want to pay Leicester’s £25 million asking price.
The Gunners remain keen on the Belgium international midfielder, who is out of contract at Leicester at the end of the season.
Leicester are confident that Tielemans will sign a new contract, according to the report, which has added that if that does not happen, then he could be sold for £17 million, a fee that Tottenham got from Inter Milan for Christian Eriksen (now at Manchester United) in January 2020, ‘six months from the end of his contract’.
Should Arsenal pay £17m for Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans?
In our view, if £17 million is what Arsenal would have to pay Leicester City for Youri Tielemans in the January transfer window, then the Gunners should get a deal done.
There is no point in waiting until the end of the season and then trying to snap him up on a free transfer.
Who knows what could happen in the second half of the campaign?
Arsenal could also face a lot of competition from other clubs for Tielemans – described as “fantastic “ by Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers in The Daily Mail – next summer.
The Gunners are five points clear at the top of the Premier League table at the moment.
If Arsenal had always thought that Tielemans would make their midfield better, then they should not hesitate to pay the £17 million for him in the middle of the season, if indeed that is what it would take to sign him.
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