Youri Tielemans’ days as a Leicester City player look numbered, but it remains to be seen if he will ever complete the long-awaited move to Arsenal.
The Belgian international has been on Mikel Arteta’s radar for some time and was expected to make the switch to north London in the summer after positive talks took place. However, with other transfer business taking priority, football.london understands Arsenal are prepared to wait before signing him for free when his contract ends in June next year.
That’s if the Gunners don’t end up pursuing someone else, of course, which is a possibility. According to Diario AS Argentina, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid are showing interest in World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister.
READ MORE: What Youri Tielemans has said about his Leicester future amid Arsenal and Chelsea transfer links
It’s said that his performances in Qatar will undoubtedly 'open the doors of the best European teams sooner or later', with Arsenal already reported to be one of them. The Brighton & Hove Albion man made six appearances for Argentina, scoring one goal and also providing an assist for Angel Di Maria in the final.
Mac Allister has also been instrumental in the Seagulls' fine start to the season, scoring five goals in 14 appearances whilst operating as a central and defensive midfielder.
The 23-year-old has more often than not played as an attacking midfielder, but considering Arsenal already have two No.10s in Martin Odegaard and Fabio Vieira, the interest in Mac Allister suggests he would be viewed as competition for the likes of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey or even a rotational option with the aforementioned Vieira, who can also play in a central role.
It would be a similar scenario for Tielemans, who is rather interestingly listed as a similar player to Mac Allister based on FBref data and statistics from the last 365 days, with the Premier League duo sharing a similar amount of goal contributions, completed passes, tackles and touches.
Speaking to BBC Sport about expected interest in the Argentinian, Brighton chief executive Paul Barber said: "He [Mac Allister] will be sought after, we're very aware of that, but we hope to keep him here as long as we can.
"Of course, when staff and players do well, as we've seen in the last few months, they do attract the interest of other big clubs. These are clubs that are wealthier and have the chance to give players a new level, we understand that and we're not naive to that," Barber added.
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