Newcastle United remain interested in a deal to bring Youri Tielemans to St. James’ Park in the January transfer window.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to Luke Edwards, with the journalist revealing in his latest article for The Telegraph that the Leicester City central midfielder ‘remains of interest’ to Dan Ashworth this winter, with the 25-year-old believed to be available for a figure in the region of £20m due to his current contract at the King Power Stadium being set to expire at the end of the season.
However, back in December, it was reported that the Foxes were keen to open fresh contract negotiations with the Belgium international, while the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea are also thought to be keen on a move for the midfielder this month.
Ashworth must move
Considering just how impressive Tielemans has been in a struggling Leicester side so far this season, the argument that Ashworth simply must do everything in his power to fight off the competition for the 25-year-old’s signature prior to January’s transfer deadline is an extremely easy one to make.
Indeed, over his 19 appearances in the Premier League in the current campaign, the £44.5m-rated talent has been in fantastic attacking form, having already bagged three goals – outperforming his xG of 2.20 – registered one assist and created seven big chances, in addition to taking an average of 1.2 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.
The £35k-per-week midfielder has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, playing an average of 2.6 long balls, 2.3 chipped passes and completing 46 total passes – at a success rate of 84% – per match, in addition to making an average of 2.1 tackles, 0.7 interceptions, regaining possession 0.6 times and winning 4.2 duels – at a success rate of 59% – per outing.
These returns have seen the player who Jaquob Crooke dubbed both “exceptional” and “divine” average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.17, not only ranking him as Brendan Rodgers’ second-best performer in the league but also as the joint 32nd-best player in the division as a whole – a remarkable feat considering the Foxes’ 15th place position in the table.
As such, with Tielemans quite clearly being a player who can do it all in the middle of the park, coupled with the fact the Belgian is reported to be available for a fee roughly £24.5m less than his current market valuation, should Ashworth be able to beat none other than table-toppers Arsenal to a deal for the 25-year-old this winter, it would undoubtedly represent an exceptional coup for the Magpies.
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