Arsenal offered £26m Youri Tielemans back-up plan as Mikel Arteta outlines Edu transfer mission

Adrien Rabiot has emerged as the ideal candidate to plug Arsenal’s diminishing interest in Youri Tielemans, with the Gunners slowly distancing themselves from a move for the Leicester City midfielder. Tielemans has been heavily linked with a switch to the Emirates Stadium, but a departure from the King Power Stadium looks increasingly unlikely.

Following Porto’s confirmation that the north London outfit have have reached an agreement for the transfer of Fabio Vieira on a permanent deal, Mikel Arteta’s side have ‘cooled’ their interest in the Belgium international, according to Sky Sports. The report claims that it’s become growingly likely that the Belgian now signs a one-year contract extension at Leicester, with his current deal set to expire in 12 months.

Arsenal have long been admirers of Tielemans, but with the Gunners having agreed a £34m deal for Porto star Vieira, that interest has waned. Whether or not Edu navigates another move for the 25-year-old is yet to be seen, though it’s believed that the north Londoners will only sign one central midfielder in this window.

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However, should Edu have a change of heart, Rabiot has been added to Juventus’ transfer list and several Premier League clubs are already said to be interested, according to Fabrizio Romano. The 27-year-old, who is valued at £25.7million by CIES Football Observatory, sees his contract with the Old Lady expire next summer, making him available for cut-price fee.

According to Italian outlet Tutto Juve in March, Rabiot is ‘liked’ by London rivals Chelsea and could be used as a makeweight in a player-plus-cash deal that sees Jorginho go the other way. The France international has previously worked with Thomas Tuchel but, should the Blues look to rival Arsenal for his signature, they must be wary of Arteta’s intentions this summer.

When asked if he expects another busy transfer window in terms of player recruitment, Arteta said: “I am expecting so, yes. I think both competitions [the Champions League and Europa League] require a much larger squad because the amount of games you play is much bigger in both, so I don’t think [which you qualify for] makes a lot of difference or changes a lot.

“If you can financially afford it and we don’t have to do the turnaround in the squad that we’ve had to do, if you ask me what I want it’s 22 outfield players and three goalkeepers. You have to come a long way in the aspects that you see on the pitch, it’s a lot of things that have to be put in place, and that takes time.”