Arsenal boss Mike Arteta could spark a crisis at Leicester City if he can capture the late signing of Youri Tielemans with the transfer window about to shut.
With Tielemans only having 12 months left on his contract, Leicester will have to make a tough decision whether to accept an offer or face the Belgian international leaving on a free transfer next summer. However, his departure would leave a huge hole in the Foxes attacking midfield options.
An unnamed club have started the bidding for Tielemans by submitting an initial offer in the region of £19million, although the Foxes are hoping for more like £30m.
Chelsea completed the transfer of Wesley Fofana today and Leicester have moved immediately to replace him with Reims defender Wout Faes having a medical. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers, who has been criticised for failing to make a single signing this summer until now, could now be forced into making a flurry of transfers before the window closes tomorrow if a price can be agreed for Tielemans.
Tielemans has been linked with a move to Arsenal throughout the summer and Arteta remained tight lipped when asked directly about the Leicester midfielder last month.
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He said: "We never talk about players that are not ours as I said before. We can improve the team still in the market, we are going to try and do it but we are not going to go into any specific names.”
Tielemans signed a four-year deal at Leicester in 2019 for an estimated fee of £32m after leaving Monaco and scored the winning goal in last year's FA Cup final. Including an initial spell on loan from Monaco, Tielemans has made 124 Premiership appearances for the Foxes scoring 18 goals. Tottenham defender Alan Hutton, believes Arsenal would regain a 'fear factor' if the Belgian is added to their squad.
"It’s not about bringing in another number, I think he makes the team better, he will be a big signing for Arsenal," Hutton told Football Insider. "He’ll have his eyes on playing week in, week out and I think he can do that there. No disrespect to Leicester, but he’ll have better players around him and he can flourish there.
"He’s a fantastic footballer. If they can get that over the line, the way they are playing at the moment, teams in and around Arsenal will fear them."
