There is no doubt that Arsenal are in desperate need of a new midfielder, preferably right now considering that Maitland-Niles has left the room, but if not then definitely by the summer when Elneny will also be moving on to pastures new.
Obviously Arteta and Edu will only be looking at players that could improve the team, and one player that would slot in perfectly is the Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans. According to a report in Goal, the Gunners have already held talks with his agent with a view to moving to the Emirates.
The Belgian star, who was awesome in last season’s FA Cup Final against Chelsea, only has 18 months left on his contract at the King Power Stadium and has made it clear that he is looking for a new challenge.
Tielemens will certainly not be short of suitors with his quality, but if Arsenal can stay in the European places maybe he could be tempted to join Mikel Arteta’s youth revolution.
He is only 24 years old, so the right age for our project, and is full of experience at the highest level, having played an incredible amount of over 300 games at Anderlecht, Monaco and Lecicester.
He certainly won’t be cheap, especially if there is a bidding war amongst the top teams, but he would certainly be a welcome addition to Arsenal…
I would love him to join us, or do you think there are better options out there?
If he joined, what would be our starting line-up and formation?
Xhaka upgrade.
He can play as defensive 8 or attacking 8.He is mobile and quick in transition.
Tielemans any day any formation 💪💪💪
But MA just gave Xhaka a contract extension and has not shown that he is willing to bench him, not from what I’ve seen anyway.
He is extremely reliable, I think maybe the best DLP-midfielder in the Premier League. Can score, create, tackle, distribute. Also he’s only missed 6 matches for Leicester in 3 years.
100% I would want Tielemans, may be a deal to be done in the summer involving Maitland-Niles?
To be honest though, I still think if Arteta was to work on his favoured 433 hen odegaard and ESR could be awesome alongside Partey. 2 very different styles, but both would need to improve their tackling and heading.
That said every team needs 4/5 central midfielders just because of form, injuries, suspensions, afcon and covid. We started the season with Partey, Xhaka, Sambi, AMN and Elneny. Currently we only have 2 until Partey and Elneny return.
In an ideal scenario we would buy 2 and get an offer for Elneny this window. However, in my opinion we will just bring in Arthur on loan in Ceballos, Suarez, Kallstrom type move, then assess the situation in the summer once the futures of Xhaka, AMN, Elneny, Guendozi and Torreira are decided.
Similarly, I cannot see us signing the striker we want. I think if Auba returns and apologises, he will see out the season with us and then leave the club in the summer along with Laca, Eddie and Pepe. Leaving us needing 2 forwards, one of which can play wide as well as down the middle.
partey and Eleny will be gone for about 3 weeks…
so we should sign two replacement for them …just for 3 weeks of absence ??
Will be big part of the project
…dont go for players with big egos ..
give young players a chance to shine
One thing is for sure, we’re not getting him in this window. He’s an integral part of LC’s midfield…
Not putting down Tielemans but I hope you know he is also capable of mistakes. Conceded 2penalties against City..if that was Xhaka. Also he wasn’t booked on both occasions, if he did that as an Arsenal player, he’s either sent off or made to walk on ropes… anyway, he’s a fantastic player but know that he’s not everything.
Before he joined Leicester I urged the powers that be at Arsenal to go for Tielemans because, for one so young, he was, and still is, a first choice for Belgium who ,at the time, were up there with the best in terms of International teams.Apart from being an excellent CM or B to B operator the thing that really impressed me about him is his positive attitude during matches which he combines with a respect for teammates and opposition.He is not a prima donna like some at Old
Trafford for example but gets on with the game with a cool temperament and rarely gets involved in abusing referees and opponents.That respect which is apparent too in Rice of West Ham is vitally important when the going gets tough, and it will be interesting to see how he copes against the tigerish tackles from the Notts Forest guys in the next round of the FA Cup.Very rarely injured, he and Nditi form a very good platform for Leicester which rivals that of the top sides in the EPL.We missed the boat with Tielemans I’m afraid.
IF, and it is surely a HUGE if, we could land Tielemans, by a distance Leicesters best player IMO, it would be a massive plus.
I do think we have a realistic CHANCE even so, IF we are indeed interested, as reports state.