Liverpool and Manchester City ‘most interested’ in €40m deal for Leicester ace

The Belgium international is in the final 18 months of his contract at the King Power Stadium
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Liverpool are preparing a €40 million transfer bid for Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans after being named alongside Manchester City as one of two clubs ‘most interested’ in signing the Belgian midfielder .

Tielamans, 24, has been at Leicester since making his loan move from AS Monaco permanent in 2019.

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He has become an influential figure in Brendan Rodgers’ side - scoring the winner in their first ever FA Cup triumph in May.

With his contract ending in 18 months, the midfielder has yet to commit his future to the Foxes and Rodgers has recently admitted he could leave the club.

According to reports in Spain, Jurgen Klopp’s team and Manchester City are the ‘most interested’ in luring Tielemans away from Leicester.

El Nacional say Liverpool could do a €40 million deal while Fichajes report that Real Madrid, Arsenal and Barcelona are also interested.

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With the Foxes at 10th in the Premier League and failing to replicate their form of the previous two seasons, finalising a European place looks unlikely and could see the end of Tielemans’ time in the East Midlands.

Tielemans’ career so far

Born in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw in Belgium, Tielemans began his career for Anderlecht and went onto make 185 appearances for them, scoring 35 goals and making on to 31 assists.

Whilst in his home nation, Tielemans became the youngest Belgian to play in the Champions League after making his debut at 16 years and 148 appearances against Olympiacos.

With two league titles and an individual award as the Belgian Professional Football of the Year in 2017, Tielemans was prised away by French side Monaco in 2017.

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Under Leonardo Jardim and Thierry Henry, the midfielder struggled to reach the heights he would have hoped for with only 65 appearances.

Leicester first secured the services of Tielemans in January 2019 under Claude Puel as Portugal international Adrien Silva went the other way in a swap deal.

Youri Tielemans with the FA Cup for Leicester City Youri Tielemans with the FA Cup for Leicester City
Youri Tielemans with the FA Cup for Leicester City

The Belgian, who has 47 caps for his country, instantly became a fan favourite with his obvious quality and desire to enjoy football and his move was made permanent in the summer.

He has scored 23 times for the Foxes, with his most significant coming in May last year with a thunderbolt at Wembley to crown Leicester FA Cup champions for the first time in their history.

What would he add to Liverpool?

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Labelled a ‘top class player’ by Man City boss Pep Guardiola in April, Tielemans is capable of playing as a box-to-box midfielder or further up the field in a more advanced area.

After Georginio Wijnaldum’s departure last summer, Klopp’s men have missed the Dutch midfielder’s energy and attacking prowess, something Tielemans would be able to provide.

According to SofaScore, Tielemans has completed an average of 84% of his passes per game, with more passes (24.9) in the opposition half than in his own half (21.3).

A common midfield three this season has often contained Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, with Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliot, Naby Keita all utilised across the course of the season.

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With Tielemans’ contract expiring at the end of next season, the player’s value will dwindle as time passes and it is expected he will attract more attention this summer - especially if Leicester fail to qualify for Europe.