Arsenal have ‘stepped up their interest’ in Youri Tielemans and are ‘ready to make a firm offer’ for the Leicester midfielder.
The Gunners are now ‘confident of sealing a £30m deal’ for the 25-year-old, according to The Sun.
READ MORE: Christian Eriksen will be no Manchester United nice-guy benchwarmer; he’s brilliant
Manchester United and Newcastle have also been linked with the Belgium international, but Arsenal are ready to make an official bid.
Mikel Arteta’s side have also been linked with Wolves’ Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio but have been put off by their respective £75m and £50m price tags.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers is loath to lose Tielemans, who has been a key part of his team since his £40m move from Monaco three years ago.
But Tielemans has just one year left on his contract and the Foxes are willing to let him leave to avoid losing him for free next summer.
When asked last month if he could move on this summer, Tielemans replied: “That is not out of the question.
He continued: “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.”
Arsenal have already secured the signing of one midfielder this summer, with Fabio Vieira joining from Porto, but reports at that time claimed his arrival would not alter their pursuit of Tielemans, and the deal now appears to be close.
Arteta also wants to strengthen on the wing, but is resigned to missing out on Raphinha, who is desperate to join Barcelona, and in defence, with Lisando Martinez of Ajax among the top targets, though he looks to be on the verge of a £40m move to Manchester United.
But the club’s plans to spend big this summer are being hampered by their inability to clear the decks.
Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson, Lucas Torreira, Pablo Mari, Bernd Leno and Hector Bellerin are all for sale but have not yet attracted any serious offers.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Football365…