Tottenham Hotspur and Antonio Conte are said to be admirers of Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans and they have been encouraged to sign him.
The Belgium international has been a vital player for the Foxes over the past couple of seasons.
Tielemans has been able to rebuild his career in the Premier League after he endured a troublesome spell in Ligue 1 with AS Monaco.
His long-term future is unclear though as his current contract at The King Power Stadium is set to expire in 2023.
Wesley Fofana and Kasper Schmeichel left the club in the summer and Tielemans was expected to join them with Leicester setting their asking price at £30m.
Arsenal were linked with him throughout the transfer window but they decided against making a bid for the centre-midfielder.
Man Utd are also understood to be admirers of him and it looks increasingly likely that he will leave Leicester either for a reduced fee in January or for free next summer.
Tottenham appear to be in the running as well. Dean Jones has recently claimed that Tielemans would have chosen Spurs over Arsenal in the summer.
“He would’ve chosen Tottenham over Arsenal just because Tottenham have got Champions League football,” Jones told The Football Terrace.
“And I still remember getting the text the back-end of last season when Tottenham were on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League. It was like: ‘if Tottenham do get fourth spot, Tielemans is right at the top of their list’. And it just hasn’t come through for whatever reason.”
Spurs were busy in the summer as they spent around £152m on new signings. Richarlison was their most expensive addition.
They also strengthened in the middle of the pitch as they brought in Yves Bissouma from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Gianluca Di Marzio has now revealed that a player with Tielemans’ attributes is ‘liked a lot’ by Spurs and Conte.
The Italian journalist has also suggested that Tottenham “need to get players” like Tielemans to bolster their squad.
“If you ask me, where he would fit in the most, my answer would obviously be in a Premier League team. Tottenham and Antonio Conte like players like Tielemans a lot,” Di Marzio told wettfruende
“If Tottenham wants to be even stronger in the Premier League and Champions League they need to get players like him.
“But at the moment there are no clubs who are close to signing him because the transfer market just ended one month ago and the World Cup is coming up.
“The clubs and the players are completely focused on the World Cup right now.”
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