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Ian Wright has claimed that Arsenal target Youri Tielemans's downfall has been a sad watch. He believes that the Belgian gave up and was already thinking about his next move from Leicester City.
Tielemans is a free agent this summer after his contract runs out at Leicester City. The Foxes have been relegated to the Championship after finishing 18th in the Premier League this season.
The former AS Monaco star scored just three goals this season in the league, while he had six goals and four assists in the previous campaign. Wright spoke about the Belgian on his Wrighty's House podcast and said:
“So many of their players have hit bad form and they just can’t take the hit. Look at Tielemans. Tielemans’ drop-off this season is quite sad, you know. It [missing out on a move last summer] has got to have had some effect. I thought he would have got the move and he was playing the kind of football where you’re thinking ‘yeah he can’t stay there for much longer’. But what’s happened is that you watch him and he hasn’t got the dynamism that he had."
Arsenal were keen on signing Tielemans last summer and were also interested in the January window. However, Leicester City refused to sell the midfielder as they wanted to fight for survival.
Arsenal were urged to sign Tielemans in the January window by Parlour
Ray Parlour was keen on Arsenal signing a midfielder in the January window and pushed for Youri Tielemans. He believed that the Belgian was ideal backup to Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, before the Gunners ended up signing Jorginho from Chelsea.
He was talking to Lord Ping when he said:
"Arsenal need another midfielder as backup to Xhaka and Partey and I know Tielemans was mentioned in that midfield area. He is very different to Partey. I know Partey is very good at winning the ball back, very similar to [Emmanuel] Petit and Gilberto Silva."
He added:
"So it's a bit of a defensive midfielder, but obviously good on the ball as well that can make things happen. With Tielemans. He doesn’t have long left in his contract. So Arsenal can put a little cheeky bid in. But at the same time, Leicester has their own problems fighting a relegation battle, and does not want to go down because they lost their best players."
Despite the poor season, Tielemans has been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool on a free transfer. The Gunners are close to seeing Xhaka leave, while the Reds have announced the departure of James Milen, Alex Oclade-Chamberlain, and Naby Keita - leaving a huge midfield hole in the squad.
