Arsenal are keeping in mind potential alternatives to Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo, according to Ben Jacobs in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
The Gunners also have a verbal agreement with Leicester City’s Youri Tielemans, with personal terms being agreed almost a year ago, but with some issues with the negotiations with Leicester City.
Tielemans is just months away from being a free agent as he’ll be out of contract with Leicester in the summer, and that could present the best opportunity for Arsenal to move for him.
The complication in targeting the Belgium international as an alternative to Caicedo for now, is that Leicester don’t want to sell at the moment because they ultimately feel it would be worth missing out on a transfer fee for him if he can help them survive relegation.
This means Arsenal may have to wait, but there could also be other options out there this January.
“Arsenal would like a midfielder before the transfer window shuts and they’re looking at a number of other targets, but I don’t see them panic-buying,” Jacobs said.
Moises Caicedo in action for Ecuador
“Had the injury to Thomas Partey been more serious then they’d be in a slightly different position, but it looks like he’ll be okay. Mohamed Elneny being sidelined has definitely created a bit more urgency, but I don’t think they’ll rush into this because they know that in the summer, if they have Champions League football or potentially even win the Premier League, they’ll be in for an active summer where they can spend more.
“It’s difficult to decide what direction to go in, because there’s a case for saying get a last-minute short-term fix just to get more cover because if that’s the difference between winning the Premier League or not, then they’ll be glad they did it, and if they miss out on the title they risk being called out for not being aggressive enough late on in the transfer window.
“We know midfielders are on Arsenal’s radar. Amadou…
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