Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has insisted that Youri Tielemans is happy at the Foxes as Arsenal prepare to make another attempt to sign the midfielder.
Tielemans has been one of Leicester's star players since he arrived from Monaco in 2019, scoring the winner as they won the 2021 FA Cup. But his contract at the King Power Stadium will expire at the end of the season, with interest in him growing.
The Foxes have been unable to tie the Belgian international down to a fresh deal and it appears increasingly likely he will depart the East Midlands. The Gunners have long eyed the 25-year-old, with boss Mikel Arteta keen to boost his options in midfield.
But as the January transfer window approaches, Rodgers has moved to warn Arsenal that finally signing Tielemans will not be as easy as they may think. He has insisted that Tielemans is happy at Leicester.
Further, it appears that the door to the midfielder signing a new deal remains firmly open. The Leicester boss did admit, though, he is keen to boost his squad in the transfer window, which may mean a sale is needed.
“I haven’t spoken to him (Tielemans) since he came back (from the World Cup). It’s something between him and the club. My focus is on the player. He loves being here, but it’s a big contract for him, so he will be taking his time over what he wants to do. He’s a joy to work with,” Rodgers said.
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“We’ve a couple of areas we would like to improve and we hope to do that. There’s been plenty of work behind the scenes. Hopefully, we can improve the depth. It’s clear we’ve lost a number of our full-backs.
"So, we’ll look at the left-back position and also for an out-and-out winger on the right side is one we will definitely look at. It was a challenging summer for us. Come January, we’ve looked at that and we hope to be able to spend wisely.”
Rodgers' message over his midfielder comes after Mirror Football reported that the Gunners are preparing to make a final attempt to sign Tielemans. The Gunners are said to be ready to test Leicester's resolve in the January window.
The Foxes are understood to be willing to sell the Belgian if a decent offer is submitted and are hopeful they can bring in a fee in the region of £20million. Earlier this season, Tielemans did admit that his family is happy in Leicester but left the door open to a departure.
"I’m not going to speak too much about my contract situation at the moment. My family is very happy there and that’s important. I didn’t leave in the summer as I always said the project had to be the right one," he said in September.
"Whether you are in your last contract year or not, it’s also not the case that I talk to the club every day about my extension or not. That’s work for my agent. In the end, I will decide. There was talk of different clubs, but I won’t go into that."
