La Liga heavyweights Barcelona are reportedly weighing up a January move for 25-year-old Leicester City playmaker Youri Tielemans.
According to a report by Mundo Deportivo, as relayed by Sport Witness, Barcelona might make an approach for Youri Tielemans in the January transfer window. Leicester City could be open to selling the 25-year-old playmaker in the winter, with his contract expiring next summer.
Youri Tielemans has established himself as one of the best playmakers in the Premier League since joining Leicester City from AS Monaco over three years ago. The Belgian international has been a pivotal figure for the Foxes, scoring the winner when they won the FA Cup in 2021.
The 25-year-old has turned out 169 times thus far for Leicester, chipping in with 25 goals and 25 assists. But the former Premier League champions are in a spot of bother over Tielemans’s long-term future as he has entered the final year of his contract. Such a situation has captured the attention of Barcelona.
Recent reports claimed that Tielemans had emerged as a target for Barcelona for a Bosman move next summer. But Mundo Deportivo suggests the Blaugrana might accelerate the procedure of landing the player. That is due to Sergio Busquets’s poor form in the first two months of the 2022/23 season.
The Barcelona captain has been underwhelming thus far this season, and Barcelona will need to lay down a succession plan for him. Midfielders like Ruben Neves, Martin Zubimendi, and Jorginho have emerged on Barcelona’s radar. But the Catalan giants are now considering a January move for Tielemans.
The 25-year-old will not be a like-for-like successor for Busquets. But Tielemans can play a deeper role. And his proficiency on the ball means he will fit right in at Spotify Camp Nou. The report also suggests Leicester City might not stop a January exit for the Belgian playmaker.
So it will be interesting to see if Barcelona will intensify the efforts to sign Tielemans and secure his services in the January transfer window. A possible approach will depend on Busquets’s form between now and the turn of the year.
