Arsenal's hopes of securing Youri Tielemans this summer have been given a slight boost after Leicester City reportedly lowered their asking price to around £25m ahead of deadline day.
Sky Sports News are claiming that Tielemans is available if that figure is met, with both Arsenal and Newcastle United retaining an interest in the midfielder. Leicester are said to have originally been demanding upwards of £30m for the Belgian, leaving the Gunners reluctant to pay such a fee for a player with less than a year remaining on his contract, football.london understands.
Following initial talks with his representatives, Edu has been in no rush to wrap up a deal for Tielemans so far and there have even been suggestions that Arsenal could wait until he becomes a free agent next year if new terms with the Foxes are not agreed upon.
READ MORE: Leicester receive £19m Youri Tielemans offer from 'mystery club' amid Arsenal transfer decision
However, with reports surfacing that Leicester have now dropped their price, it remains to be seen if Mikel Arteta finally gets the green light to secure one of his long-term targets on the final day of the window. A new winger appeared to be at the top of Arsenal's to-do list following the loan departure of Nicolas Pepe last week. There are also concerns over the number of games Bukayo Saka finds himself playing, increasing injury and burnout fears.
Despite this, Arteta and Edu's attention could now turn elsewhere after Mohamed Elneny suffered a hamstring injury during the game against Fulham, football.london understands. Thomas Partey is also expected to be out of action for a couple of weeks due to a thigh injury. It leaves Arsenal short in midfield ahead of a demanding fixture schedule and may force them to strengthen the position before tonight's 11pm deadline.
As the links to Tielemans fail to go away, various reports suggest a deal is being worked on to bring Palmeiras midfielder Danilo to the Emirates Stadium. The Brazilian is another long-term target of Arsenal's after Edu originally explored the possibility of signing him in January.
Any potential deal is unlikely to be straightforward, however, with Palmeiras in the Libertadores semi-finals and unable to bring in a replacement due to their transfer window ending already. If Arsenal are unsuccessful in their attempts to sign the 21-year-old, then perhaps Tielemans represents a more feasible option should there be enough time to get something done.
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