Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Youri Tielemans

Arsenal have agreed personal terms with Youri Tielemans but are in no rush to push through a deal with Leicester City demanding at least £30m, according to Ben Jacobs. 

Tielemans has been at Leicester since joining from Monaco in 2019 but is in the final year of his contract at the King Power Stadium and is expected to leave this summer after refusing to sign an extension.

Arsenal have been the front runners to sign the Belgian international and were initially tipped to secure a swift deal following the international break earlier this month.

No deal has materialised as yet and Sky Sports News claimed Arsenal have cooled their interest in Tielemans after splashing out £34m on attacking midfielder Fabio Vieira from Porto.

However, journalist Ben Jacobs – who works for CBS Sport – claims that Arsenal have put a huge amount of work into the Tielemans deal and have even agreed personal terms with the player.

Jacobs insists the Gunners are still keen on the 25-year-old and would ideally like to agree a deal worth around £25m, but Leicester have so far been demanding at least £30m for the midfield maestro.

The full interview can be seen above, but speaking on The Football Terrace, Jacobs said:

“It’s incorrect to say anything other than that Arsenal have advanced things with Tielemans in the last seven days. The feeling was that Arsenal would swoop in after the international break and get it done. Instead they progressed things with Vieira, but Tielemans is still on their radar.”

“Arsenal have put in a heck of a lot of work on this deal, dating back a year, they’ve agreed terms with the player, but at no point have they tabled an offer with Leicester City. Arsenal always felt they wanted to pay £25m all in, but Leicester want closer to £30m, £31m or £32m.”

Jacobs went on to say that he still fully expects Tielemans to leave Leicester this summer and that if/when another club comes in, it will force Arsenal to act. However, if no other major clubs come forward, Arsenal will use this to drive the price down and push Leicester into accepting a lower fee.

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It appears Arsenal are now prepared to bide their time and see how things play-out with Tielemans over the coming weeks in the hope of securing a knock down deal later in the window.

It’s a risky strategy as the player could have his head turned if another top club expresses their interest, but Tielemans would be a terrific signing for Arsenal if they could get a deal done this summer.