Youri Tielemans to Arsenal transfer; price tag, Leicester City stance, Arteta responds

Arsenal are being heavily linked with a move for Youri Tielemans this summer.

The Gunners have already strengthened significantly this summer, with Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira and others already snapped up ahead of the club’s return to Europe.

But Arsenal may not be done there, with Mikel Arteta admitting he would like to add more pieces ahead of the new season.

Leicester City star Tielemans has been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium, potentially available on the cheap this summer.

Here is what we know about the situation so far.

The latest

Arsenal are said to be prioritising a deal for Tielemans after wrapping up the signing of Gabriel Jesus.

According to The Sun, the Gunners are determined to sign a centre-midfielder, but they don’t want to pay the huge figures being mentioned for Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.

For that reason, Arsenal are said to prioritising a deal for Tielemans, hoping to strike a deal with Leicester in the coming weeks.

Leicester’s stance and price tag

Tielemans could well be sold by the Foxes this summer, now in the last year of his contract at the King Power Stadium.

The midfielder has decided not to pen an extension at this point, and that means Leicester will likely have to sell him this summer to avoid losing him for nothing this time next year.

Though, given Tielamans’ contract situation, the Foxes cannot ask for an overly large fee, and as per Leicestershire Live, £25million is said to be the price tag this summer.

What has Tielemans said?

While Tielemans has not ruled out a stay at the King Power Stadium, he has said he is open to a move this summer.

“That is not out of the question,” he said when asked about a move during international duty last month,

“But I can also stay. I feel very good at Leicester, I was welcomed with open arms from day one. I give everything for the club until the last day.

“But of course you have to listen to other opportunities, you have to look at your career, and sometimes you have to make choices. Maybe one will come my way.

“You need to stay calm. I’m good where I am. I still have a year left on my contract. I’m not in a rush. When you change clubs, you don’t change just to change. You change because there is a great project on the table.

“For a player, the most important thing is to play. It’ll be up to me to make the right decision regarding my future this summer, but now, I’m relaxed and focusing on the Red Devils.”

What has Arteta said?

Arteta was asked about the possibility of signing Tielemans on Friday.

He said: “There are more things that we would like to do if we can. Obviously the market will dictate what we can do. So far we are happy with what we have done.

”We never talk about players that are not ours.

“We can improve the team still in the market and we are going to try and do it, but we are not going to go into any specific names.”