Brendan Rodgers' Youri Tielemans comments give clues to Leicester City view on Arsenal transfer

Youri Tielemans is a high-profile player and he’s being linked with a high-profile club in Arsenal, and so it's the dominant story when it comes to Leicester City transfers right now. It was the same with Ben Chilwell and Chelsea, and Harry Maguire and Manchester United.

City’s stance on the England duo was pretty clear. Given the players’ quality, City would have been happy to keep them. But both Maguire and Chilwell had signalled their intention to leave and so the task became to get the best deal possible, rather than try to persuade them otherwise or steadfastly refuse to sell. In both scenarios, City did a decent job, earning £130m.

It’s not quite the same with Tielemans. Despite his reluctance to sign a new contract at City, publicly he has straddled the fence between staying and leaving whenever the topic of his future has been put to him.

Last week, he said he has to consider his career and is listening for other opportunities, adding that a choice may come his way. But he quickly followed that up by saying there is no rush and that he won’t change clubs for change’s sake, and that he needs the right project.

But for City it’s not as simple as waiting for Tielemans to decide what he wants to do. If the Belgian was to signal he would prefer to stay and that the project at Arsenal doesn’t appeal enough to him, that would not be the end of the matter.

At that point, City would likely put the contract offer in front of him again. If it’s still a no, then they either have to push him towards the exit so they get the money for him, or gamble on him staying, at which point he will then either leave for nothing or finally sign a new contract next summer.

So what clues has City manager Brendan Rodgers left about