Journalist Pete O'Rourke has shed some light on Arsenal's ongoing pursuit of Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans this summer. 

The lowdown: Arsenal's interest in Tielemans

The Gunners have been extensively linked with the 25-year-old throughout the summer transfer window as Mikel Arteta and Edu attempt to strengthen the squad at the Emirates Stadium.

However, the north Londoners face familiar competition for Tielemans as Football Insider claimed that Manchester United are prepared to battle it out for the Belgium international, having already snatched Lisandro Martinez from the Gunners' apparent grasp.

Despite the apparent strong interest in Tielemans from Arsenal, there has been no concrete movement on a deal, and one well-informed onlooker has now had his say on the current state of play...

The latest: 'Top target'

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O'Rourke claimed that the Gunners remain keen on the 52-cap Belgian and believes that a deal could yet materialise ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

He said: “I think Arteta would like to bring in another midfielder and Tielemans has been the top target throughout the summer, but they’re gonna have to see what they can do in the transfer market because Leicester will be looking for top dollar for him.

“They’re not going to be willing to sell them on the cheap, but Leicester also need to sell players this summer as well to raise funds themselves. So there could be an interesting few weeks to see what happens in this potential deal.”

The verdict: Here's hoping

Although the transfer business carried out so far can only be commended as Arsenal have certainly bolstered their ranks, particularly in an attacking sense with the capture of Gabriel Jesus, there remains further room for improvement in the squad.

As things stand, Arteta can only call upon Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny in a senior capacity, along with a relatively unproven Albert Sambi Lokonga and new arrival Fabio Vieira, to carry out conventional central midfield duties. That leaves space for at least one more proven Premier League operator in the engine room.

Once dubbed a 'sublime' player by sports journalist Josh Bunting and sharing similar traits to the likes of Rodrigo De Paul, Joshua Kimmich and Arsenal target Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (FBRef), the cultured Tielemans would bring an abundance of elite-level experience and unerring passing ability to the north Londoners.

Furthermore, the £49.5m-valued Belgian is into the final 12 months of his deal at the King Power Stadium and could be available for much less than his true worth in the market, making any attempted swoop from Edu a welcome one.