Report: £40m player increasingly likely to stay with current club rather than sign for Arsenal

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Arsenal target Youri Tielemans is set for talks with Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers and could yet stay at the club this summer.

The Athletic report that the Gunners have not yet made an offer for the Belgian, despite links going on across the summer.

And they are now on the verge of signing Oleksandr Zinchenko, who would bolster their central midfield options.

The Ukrainian can of course play at left-back, where he was operated for Manchester City in most games, but he wants to play as a midfielder.

Tielemans set for Leicester talks

Rodgers will hold talks with Tielemans this week to discuss his situation, which remains unresolved as the Premier League season edges into view.

The report says the odds are now increasing that Tielemans will remain for the final year of his contract at Leicester.

Tielemans joined for a fee around £40 million (Guardian) in July 2019 but that could mean he leaves as a free agent in a year’s time, but he is one of ten players now in the final year of their Leicester contracts, including Kasper Schmeichel and Jamie Vardy.

Does that mean Leicester need to get rid of a saleable asset in Tielemans, while they have the chance to get a fee in for him?

The report says that they need to make sales before they can bring players in, to free up funds and space in their Premier League squad.

That likely refers to more unwanted players, but if it is tough to shift them in the current financial landscape, perhaps selling Tielemans to Arsenal is the answer.

But if the Gunners have not yet made an offer, they cannot do that right now, and it might be that Rodgers wants to draw a line under the situation after these scheduled talks.