Tottenham’s interest in Leicester’s Youri Tielemans was never at an advanced stage, while the imminent arrival of Yves Bissouma will ease fears held by Arsenal that Spurs could hijack a deal, according to CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs. 

Spurs are on the verge of completing a deal for the Mali international with The Times reporting a £25 million bid had been accepted by Brighton. 

The move will see Bissouma become Antonio Conte’s third signing of the summer after Ivan Perisic and Fraser Forster, with the Italian looking to partner him with January acquisition Rodrigo Bentancur in central midfield (ESPN). 

It will likely bring an end to speculation linking Tielemans with a move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, after it was claimed the Leicester man was on Spurs’ list of midfield targets (GiveMeSport). 

The Belgium international has hinted that an exit from the King Power Stadium could be on the cards this summer with one year remaining on his current contract (The Athletic). 

But Jacobs has since revealed Spurs were never fully invested in signing Tielemans, while their move for Bissouma has acted as a boost for Arsenal’s chances of acquiring him. 

It is explained that the Gunners are confident of completing a transfer for Tielemans and Spurs’ exit from the chase will ‘allay fears’ about the prospect of a deal being hijacked by their North London rivals. 

Spurs Web Opinion 

The deal with Fabio Paratici is that he likes to have communication with a big list of players at the same time as opposed to taking things one step at a time. 

Tielemans is obviously one that Spurs and Arsenal have been tracking and there could have been a fight to land him over the summer, but Bissouma’s arrival will likely take the former out of the equation. 

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