Newcastle United considering January move for Youri Tielemans

Newcastle United are reportedly considering making a £15 million bid for Leicester City contract rebel Youri Tielemans in the upcoming January transfer window.

According to a report in the print edition of the Sunday Mirror, as relayed by the Boot Room, Newcastle United are weighing up a £15 million bid to sign Leicester City and Belgium playmaker Youri Tielemans during the winter transfer window, as the Magpies believe they have the upper hand in the race for the 25-year-old’s signature.

The race to capture Tielemans has lasted far longer than most anticipated it to. The Belgium international is reportedly out of contract next summer and has no intention of extending his contract with the Midlands outfit. He looks likely to leave the King Power Stadium either in January or at the end of the season.

Arsenal flirted with the possibility of signing Tielemans throughout the summer, but they focused on other positions first before making a push for Aston Villa’s Douglas Luiz on the deadline day, with a couple of bids rejected.

Newcastle were another club hotly tipped to make a move for Tielemans over the summer and even on deadline day, the Magpies were still very keen on landing the midfielder with a reported fee of around £25 million bandied about, although nothing ever materialised for Tielemans, who decided to stay put at the Midlands club for the time being.

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But looking back, that choice seems to have backfired. After losing six of their first seven games, Leicester are currently bottom of the Premier League table, with Brendan Rodgers’ side struggling to keep the back door shut.

However, a January exit could be on the cards for Tielemans as the Foxes want to recoup some of the £40 million transfer fee they paid to AS Monaco in 2019 for his services and avoid losing him for free next year.

As per reports, Newcastle are thinking of making a winter swoop for the midfield maestro due to the injury problems to playmakers Jonjo Shelvey and Bruno Guimaraes this season.

The Toon are planning to launch a cheeky £15 million bid for the 25-year-old when the transfer window reopens, and believe they are at the front of the queue for his signature. That is because of a familiar face in the Newcastle backroom staff in the form of Graeme Jones, who enjoys a great working relationship with Tielemans from their time together with the Belgian national team.

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Tielemans remained coy about his contract situation but emphasized that he considers a good project a must if he has to move to a new club.

“I’m not going to speak too much about my contract situation at the moment”, Tielemans continued. “I didn’t leave Leicester in the summer as I always said the project had to be the right one.

“Just because things are getting worse now at Leicester doesn’t mean I should regret [staying].”

Newcastle United are heading on an upward trajectory under the new ownership and may very well be that “right” project. The big question mark lingering is whether Leicester will let one of their best players leave midway through a season in which they are fighting for Premier League survival.