Youri Tielemans may have played his final game for Leicester City amid rumours linking him with a switch to Arsenal.
The Belgium international has one year left on his Foxes contract and could be on his way out as Brendan Rodgers starts to rebuild his squad ahead of the 2022/23 season. Tielemans has already reportedly rejected multiple offers to extend his stay at Leicester and favours a move to a Champions League club.
Although Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and will participate in the Europa League next season, the Telegraph claim Tielemans and his representatives are now open to the prospect of playing in that competition. The 25-year-old featured 12 times for the Foxes in Europe this campaign after they reached the semi-final of the Europa Conference League.
The Gunners narrowly missed out on a top four place after they finished two points behind Tottenham, who pipped them on the final day. Mikel Arteta's men needed a favour from already-relegated Norwich, but Spurs produced a professional performance to run out 5-0 winners at Carrow Road - booking their place into next season's Champions League.
It was a disappointing end to the season for Arsenal, who lost two of their final three games and managed to drop out of the top four despite beating Everton 5-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners went out on a flourish and showed promising signs with Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel, Cedric and Martin Odegaard all scoring.
With Arsenal finishing six points and three places better off in the table than last season, demonstrating signs of progress and this summer is poised to be an important one as the Gunners push for further success. They are expected to be busy in the transfer market and a new central midfielder seems a priority position to strengthen.
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Ruben Neves has been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium, but it seems as though Tielemans is at the top of the list given what he has achieved at Leicester. They are expected to face a battle from a number of clubs across Europe for his signature, however, with Tottenham, Real Madrid and Manchester United all supposedly in the running to sign the highly-rated midfielder.
Tielemans wrote himself into Leicester folklore when he scored the winning goal at Wembley to lift the FA Cup last season, firing home from the edge of the box against Chelsea. It was a fine moment which capped off an unbelievable season for the Belgian, who won the Foxes' Players' Player of the Season and Player of the Season award in the process.
In total, he has made 158 appearances for Leicester, scoring 24 times following his move from Monaco in 2019. Tielemans has also been capped 49 times for Belgium.