‘If I was Arsenal or Man United, I’d be looking at him’: Paul Merson on Leicester City midfielder

Paul Merson talks a lot about Leicester City these days. His former club Arsenal aren’t doing much of note, after all.

The Sky Sports pundit has been talking of Youri Tielemans lately – yes, the man, the myth, the legend.

The Belgian has been immense in Leicester’s run under Brendan Rodgers, which has obviously caught the attention of many a few.

Catching Merson’s attention, though, normally means two things: Either the player is advised to leave or a certain club or a group of clubs is urged to sign that particular player. In this case, it’s the latter.

Speaking ahead of Leicester’s encounter against Manchester City, he said:

"“I think so [a bigger club will look to sign Tielemans].“I think he’s special, I really do, I think this kid is a top, top player, I really do. The only thing is he’s worked with Brendan [Rodgers] the last so many weeks or couple of months.“Surely they’re getting into his earhole about signing and they’ve got to get his lad signed. I think he can go to any of the top four, or top six.“If I was Arsenal or Man United, I’d be looking at him all day long, all day long.“Even Man City, even at Man City I’d be looking, I think he’s that good.“He’s only young, how old is he? 21? 21, wow, wow.”"

Tielemans has three goals and five assists in just 11 appearances for the club – the sort of numbers that the faithful hoped to see but never believed that they’ll actually see this soon.

Now that the Belgian has shown how much potential he has by adapting so well, there are calls for the club to expedite the process of making his deal permanent because everyone is wary of how easy it could be for a Big Six club to come and snatch him.

But that is not as simple as A, B and C, seeing as there’s no clause in his contract that hands Leicester an advantage to begin with. Then there are other factors such as the fee and the big clubs’ interest in him.

It is no exaggeration to say that he could end up as one of the club’s most important signings ever, so the Foxes must act quick and act smartly in order to make him their own.