Arsenal may be having doubts over their interest in Youri Tielemans this summer with the club delaying their approach for the Belgian, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.
Mikel Arteta is in the process of strengthening his side ahead of the new season but it remains to be seen whether or not the Leicester City maestro will be added to his ranks.
Arsenal have had a busy summer so far with five new signings arriving at the Emirates already.
Just under £120 million has been splashed so far on the transfers of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos.
With European football returning next season in the form of the Europa League, Arteta is seemingly eager to ensure he has the necessary depth to contend with those added demands.
But it appears a new midfielder remains on the agenda before the summer window slams shut. Tielemans has been linked with a move to Arsenal for a long time now and with the Belgian only having 12 months left on his contract, Leicester are apparently willing to accept a fee of around £25 million for their star.
Lyon’s Lucas Paqueta also remains on the club’s wishlist, however, and it seems neither Arteta or Edu want to rush into a decision too quickly.
Jones understands that Tielemans has been available for Arsenal to sign for a long time now but the Gunners are yet to pull the trigger on a deal.
The transfer insider believes that the longer Tielemans is left hanging the more likely it makes a move for Paqueta instead.
Jones told GIVEMESPORT: “Tielemans has been sat there ready and available for weeks and weeks now. And they’ve even had negotiations on what it would take to sign him, the kind of agreement that would need to be in place. Arsenal know that and can do that. The fact they haven’t done it does raise some doubt in my mind over quite whether he is the player they still want. So I would edge towards Paqueta at this stage.”
