The days of waiting for exciting transfer developments are finally here, and Arsenal fans are bracing themselves for updates on two names in particular.
Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans are both said to be priorities for Mikel Arteta, with talks between the club and the players' representatives taking place over the last few months, football.london understands. However, recent reports have suggested that interest in the latter has 'cooled' for now.
Despite contact with Tielemans' camp being established some time ago, there have been no major updates as of yet, leading to speculation that a potential transfer is not close and in doubt.
READ MORE: Edu urged to accelerate Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans talks amid Arsenal 'confidence'
The international break came to an end six days ago and there was an expectation that talks regarding Tielemans would accelerate as a result, but uncertainty over this particular deal remains.
Today, GOAL reporter Adria Soldevila is claiming that Arsenal are closing in on Leeds United's Raphinha, which could explain why talks to bring Tielemans to north London are on hold for the time being.
The midfielder has one year remaining on his current contract at the King Power Stadium, which has led Arsenal to believe that they can secure his services for around £25m.
To find out the latest on a potential move to the Emirates, I spoke to Leicestershire Live's Leicester City correspondent, Jordan Blackwell last week and asked him when he thinks a deal could be completed.
"If this is a deal that's going to happen, It will absolutely happen before the first game of the season," Jordan began. "A couple of years ago there was the experiment with the transfer window ending before the season started, obviously we're back now to the end of August.
"It's not going to be one of those that, you know, he's going to play the first few games of the season for Leicester and then move on deadline day. If it happens, it's definitely going to happen before the start of the season I'd imagine because that's what happened with [Harry] Maguire. Maguire still played pre-season games for Leicester in the summer he left and was kind of similar, regarded as a really top-level professional.
"So I don't think there will be any qualms about having Tielemans around, the fact that every time he's spoken about his future he's kind of said 'I'm not in a rush' suggests that it might be one that doesn't happen straight away. It's not going to be Tielemans gets back from his holiday and like that, it's going to happen. But what I would say is, if it is going to happen, it will happen before 6th, 7th of August when the first Premier League game of the season takes place."
Before I concluded my chat with Jordan, I asked him how likely he currently believes a move to Arsenal is on a scale of one to ten, the latter being most likely.
"I'd say a seven probably, at this moment in time. So yes, definitely more likely than not, I think that would be a fair assessment of it at this stage. But obviously, we'd expect there will be some movement on that number, perhaps closer to a ten as we get further into pre-season."
