Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has remained tight-lipped over the Gunners’ pursuit of Youri Tielemans as they aim to continue adding to their squad.
The north London side have already welcomed four new faces to the Emirates Stadium so far this summer. Brazilian duo Gabriel Jesus and Marquinhos were signed from Manchester City and Sao Paulo respectively, whilst Matt Turner and Fabio Vieira have also been recruited from New England Revolution and Porto.
That leaves the Gunners’ expenditure so far this summer at approximately £85m but it is not expected to stop there. Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans remains strongly linked with Arsenal reportedly willing to fork out £25m for the Belgian’s services as he creeps into the final year of his contract at the King Power Stadium.
Manchester United are also thought to be interested in making a move. Following Arsenal’s 5-3 victory over German outfit Nurnberg in pre-season on Friday evening, Arteta was probed about the club’s potential move for Tielemans but refused to be drawn into speculation.
Speaking to journalists after the game, 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.”
Whilst he did not comment directly on links to specific players - including Tielemans - Arteta did however suggest that Arsenal’s summer business was not yet over as the club once again attempt to regain a place in the Champions League next term.
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“There are more things that we would like to do if we can,” he continued. “Obviously, the market will dictate what we can do but so far we are happy with what we’ve done.”
Arteta will no doubt have been thrilled with how one of his arrivals so far - Gabriel Jesus - began his Gunners career having been handed his first outing. The Brazilian forward initially started on the bench, with Arsenal finding themselves 2-0 down after two first-half strikes against Nurnberg.
After being introduced from the bench, Jesus netted his first goal for the club just two minutes later as he polished off an excellent team move and eventually scored with a powerful near post drive. A Mohamed Elneny stunner and two own goals saw the Gunners go 4-2 ahead before Nurnberg scored via Lukas Schleimer.
Jesus was once again on the scoresheet with 15 minutes remaining though as Arsenal rounded off an entertaining victory. He will be aiming to continue his goalscoring form against Premier League rivals Everton next week as the two come together in America.
Whether progress has indeed been made on a deal for Tielemans - or alternative targets - by then remains to be seen.
