ALMOST DONE: £40m star is ready to ‘join Arsenal’, groundwork already done ahead of move

Arsenal remain interested in signing Youri Tielemans and the Leicester City midfielder ‘will join’ the Gunners if they come in for him, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.

Mikel Arteta was in the market for a new central midfielder during the summer transfer window and Tielemans was strongly linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal held off making an official move for the Belgian international and instead focussed their attention on trying to sign Douglas Luiz but failed to land the Brazilian after Aston Villa turned down two deadline day bids.

However, the Gunners are still in the market for another midfielder as Arteta knows he needs competition for Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey if they’re to maintain their title charge during the second half of the season.

Journalist Ben Jacobs says Arsenal are still keen on Tielemans and have already done the groundwork for a deal to take place. The CBS Sports reporter claims that the 25-year-old wants to join Arsenal and will jump at the chance of moving to the Emirates if the Londoners make a formal move.

“It’s an intriguing one because they’ve put in a lot of work for Tielemans. They know that Tielemans wants Arsenal, so this is not the type of transfer where Arsenal have to worry about player buying. If they move for Tielemans, then Tielemans will join Arsenal.

“But it’s all about what Arsenal want, what’s right for their chemistry and dynamic mid-season, if we’re talking about January. Their interest has never gone away. It’s one to watch because he’s in good form now for Leicester and he’s a goalscorer.”

Cut price deal

Tielemans is valued at around £41m by Transfermarkt but his current deal runs out at the end of the season and he’s showing no indication he’ll sign an extension with Leicester City.

Therefore, Arsenal would hope to agree a cut-price fee if they formalised their interest in January but it remains to be seen whether Leicester would cash-in or hold Tielemans to the final few months of his contract.

The Foxes are currently in the bottom three so Brendan Rodgers will be desperate to keep hold of Tielemans to help in their relegation fight, even if it means losing him for nothing next summer.

It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out as Arsenal will need to sign another midfielder this winter to cope with the demands of playing in the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and knockout stages of the Europa League during the second half of the season.

Tielemans would be an excellent addition to their squad if they could agree a bargain deal, possibly of around £20m, but if Leicester refuse to cash-in then Arteta will have to move on to other targets.