Youri Tielemans in action for Leicester City
Arsenal may have already ‘left it too late’ to sign Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans in this window, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.
The Gunners have been perennially linked to Tielemans even prior to this summer, an interest that had seemingly been reignited by Edu in an attempt to strengthen Mikel Arteta’s options.
However, the 25-year-old Belgium international remains in situ at Leicester and no move is seemingly on the horizon having started in an opening day draw and in the 4-2 defeat against the north Londoners this weekend.
Despite a recent report from Football.London suggesting that Arsenal could still strike a deal, one well-informed onlooker has suggested that this transfer could already be off the table…
The latest: ‘Left it too late’
Speaking to Give Me Sport, Jones – a journalist for Eurosport – claimed that the Edu and co may have ‘left it too late’ to sign the 52-cap ace before the September 1 deadline.
He said: “Arsenal are against the clock on this one now. I mean, they’ve just left it too late.
“Leicester have got plans of their own to fulfil, this isn’t a team that are knocking around at the bottom of the Premier League.”
The verdict: One last attempt?
Albeit with two wins from two things look rosy for Arteta’s charges right now, adding another high-class midfielder to the Emirates Stadium ranks would be a welcome boost.
Last season, Tielemans – who was described as ‘scary’ by Daily Telegraph reporter Sam Dean in February 2021 – scored seven times and registered five assists in 50 appearances for the Foxes, earning an impressive 7.08 Sofascore rating whilst winning five duels, making 1.2 key passes and taking 1.8 shots on average per league outing.
Sharing similar stylistic qualities to such elite operators as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Teun Koopmeiners and Jordan Henderson (FBref), landing the mercurial £49.5m-valued Belgian would be a wholly worthwhile venture for the Gunners and one that those in the hierarchy should make one final attempt to get over the line.
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