Arsenal continue to be linked with a move for Leicester City star Youri Tielemans.
football.london reported earlier this year that Tielemans ' agent had a meeting with Gunners' technical director Edu at the club's London Colney training ground, with the north Londoners certainly interested in the player.
football.london also understands that Arsenal have been holding off on finalising a deal but reports of other teams being interested in acquiring his services could change their stance as manager Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his midfield options this summer.
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Now, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has reported that the player still expects to join Arteta's side this summer despite links seemingly 'cooling' in recent times. Writing for Caught Offside, Romano said: "Even though this particular saga has gone a little quieter in recent weeks, Arsenal have never changed their interest in signing Youri Tielemans.
"The Belgian midfielder has always been on the list, but no official bid has been submitted so far. From the player’s perspective, he still expects this move, but Arsenal will have to be quick as other clubs have been inquiring about Tielemans in the last few days.
"Certainly, Leicester would sign a replacement but so far they are waiting to understand how much they would receive as final fee from Tielemans deal. He’s in the final year of his contract, so there could still be some back and forth here as clubs won’t want to pay over the odds for someone who will be a free agent in a year’s time."
Tielemans, who is currently valued between £43million-£60 million by CIES Observatory, has established himself as one of the Premier League's top midfielders over the last few seasons, netting a combined 12 goals and providing a further eight assists across his last two league campaigns. The 25-year-old has also previously admitted he turned down a move to the Emirates Stadium as a youngster as he had reservations over game time in north London.
As quoted by the Evening Standard back in 2017, he said: “I knew not much was going to change with Arsenal’s squad. Their management wanted to keep the same group of players together in order to finish high in the Premier League.
"I had to be honest with myself and take a look at the midfielders Arsenal have got. They are top-class players. I knew that I would not get many first-team chances with them, so I didn't give any more thought to joining them.
"I never said no to any club. But I made it clear where I wanted to go.”
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