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| Leicester City's Youri Tielemans during the Premier League match between Leicester City and Southampton at The King Power Stadium on May 22, 2022 in Leicester, United Kingdom. |
Arsenal have cooled their interest in signing Youri Tielemans, making it more likely that the midfielder will sign a new contract with Leicester City, according to reports.
Sky Sports is reporting that the Gunners have taken their foot off the pedal in their interest in signing the 25-year-old midfielder this summer after having previously been linked with the Leicester City star.
With Arsenal having agreed a deal to sign FC Porto midfielder Fabio Vieira, the club’s interest in landing Tielemans has “waned”, according to the story, and that makes the prospect of the midfielder staying at Leicester more likely.
Tielemans’ current contract with the Foxes is due to expire next summer and the club will be keen to avoid losing the player on a free transfer next year.
The story claims that Arsenal will only sign one central midfielder this summer and their preference was Vieira. The article also says that the prospect of Tielemans staying at Leicester and signing a new deal “remains on the table”.
Tielemans was a constant presence in the Arsenal team last season as he scored six goals and made four assists in 32 Premier League games for Brendan Rodgers’ men. He also made four appearances for Belgium at last summer’s Euro 2020 tournament.
FC Porto confirmed that they had reached an agreement with Arsenal for Vieira on Friday, with the Portuguese club set to pocket around £29.9m up front for the 22-year-old midfielder. The transfer fee could rise to a total of £34.2m with potential add-ons included.
As well as Vieira, Arsenal have agreed deals to sign Matt Turner and Marquinhos so far this summer.
Mikel Arteta is aiming to put together a squad capable of breaking back into the top four next season after the Gunners finished two points off the Champions League qualification spots last term.
