The two pieces of business that could accelerate Arsenal’s Youri Tielemans transfer plan

Two pieces of business could lead to Arsenal finally pulling the trigger on a deal to sign Youri Tielemans.

The Gunners have been linked with the Leicester City star for much of the summer, but they are yet to make a concrete offer.

Tielemans is in the final year of his contract with the Foxes, and he could be sold for a cut-price as Leicester look to avoid losing him for nothing.

Though, Brendan Rodgers has said his side have not ruled out the possibility of keeping the Belgian and losing him for nothing should he decide not to leave or sign a new deal.

A different resolution is likely to be preferred by Leicester, though, and a £30million price tag is said to have been placed on their talented midfielder.

Having spent well over £100million this summer, Arsenal have been hesitant to pull the trigger on the deal, at least until they lessen their salary burden with outgoings.

But there are two pieces of business that may have sped up their plans to make a move for Tielemans as next week’s deadline approaches.

The first has seen £70million Gunners flog Nicolas Pepe join Nice on a season-long loan, a move that should take a chunk off Arsenal’s salary bill.

Elsewhere, The Athletic are saying West Ham United are working on a deal to sign Lyon star Lucas Paqueta.

Paqueta has been mooted as a Tielemans alternative for Arsenal, with technical director Edu reportedly a big fan.

Given Arsenal do seem to want to strengthen their midfield this summer, the potential absence of the Paqueta option could accelarate the Tielemans plans, and Pepe’s departure could help make the deal viable.

Crucially, though, just one week remains in the summer transfer window, and Leicester are likely to prefer a speedy resolution so that they can get a replacement for their star Belgian if needs be.