Youri Tielemans is not leaving Leicester in January

In an on-again off-again summer transfer saga, it seemed destined that Youri Tielemans would leave Leicester City. Numerous clubs were linked with the Belgian, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and Barcelona.

Fans had already prepared for the FA Cup-winning hero to be off on his way with only one year left on his current deal. In a surprise twist, however, no concrete offers came in for the midfielder and Tielemans has gone on to play a critical part this season.

There were early rumours of Tielemans signing a contract extension at Leicester, but nothing has resulted, and such talk has since ceased. It now looks ever so likely that Tielemans will depart the club for free in the summer after four and a half years at the King Power.

Now the club are faced with a choice: either utilise their Starman for the rest of the season and let him leave for free; or, cash in for him in January in an effort to gain more funds for the summer. The negative for the latter is that by selling him now, the Foxes would need to accept an exceptionally limited fee.

During the summer, the rumour going around was that Tielemans would cost between £30-£40million, equalling the fee they paid Monaco for his permanent services in 2019. Now, with only eight months left on his deal (six by January), Leicester City would be lucky to receive more than £10m-£15m for him.

All this, alongside the undoubted talent that Youri possesses, has led to an easy decision for Brendan Rodgers and the club: Tielemans stays until the end of his contract. Not only does this suit the club, it also suits the fans who get to enjoy one of the best – if not the best – midfielders to ever play for the Foxes until June, and then give him a proper send-off that he deserves.

Speaking about his position on Tielemans, Brendan Rodgers confirmed the club aren’t looking at an early departure for the 25-year-old:

"“It’s not something we are thinking of and not anything the club have said we need to do. We don’t want to be offloading our best players, that’s for sure. So there has been no hint or indication we need to generate money and move him on.”"

Rodgers also touched on how transfer rumours have affected Tielemans’ performances on the pitch:

"“We had a number of long chats in the summer. There is clearly no doubt even a young guy who is focused like Youri and very professional, it can have an impact. But he has been fully focused. He doesn’t let that affect him. He is a top-class professional, he sees the game how I see it.“On the field he understands what is happening within the game and that’s all he can do – give his very best – and his recent performances have been excellent.”Quotes provided by 90min"

Fans will be relieved to hear that the No.8 is staying for the rest of the season as he seems a player who’s rediscovered his mojo. Last season there was widespread criticism of the Belgian as he put in sluggish and tired performances, outshone by the emerging Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

This season, he has turned things around and has played 14 games out of 15 across all competitions, starting 13 of those. Recently he has captained the side in four consecutive games in the place of injured Jonny Evans.

Against Wolves, fans were reminded of the pure quality Tielemans has in his shooting boots, as he scored an outrageous goal of the season contender on the volley. If that weren’t enough, he nearly scored another worldie against Manchester City in their recent 1-0 loss to the champions. His fierce strike was expertly pushed onto the crossbar by Ederson, but we can expect a few more moments of magic from the midfielder before his eventual departure in the summer.