Barcelona are reportedly pessimistic about their chances of signing Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans.
In recent weeks, it has been suggested by president Joan Laporta that the Catalan giants will not be active in the upcoming January transfer window.
That is despite the the recent retirement of Gerard Pique, but their early Champions League elimination has led to their expected income being reduced during the second half of the campaign.
Nevertheless, Barcelona will almost certainly look to sign new players next summer, particularly if long-serving midfielder Sergio Busquets departs as a free agent.
Although the veteran has featured on 16 occasions during 2022-23, the 34-year-old has been tipped to move to the MLS at the end of the season.
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That has led to Barcelona being linked with a number of potential replacements, including Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves and Newcastle United's Bruno Guimaraes.
More recently, however, Tielemans is said to have emerged back on the radar of the La Liga leaders at a time when he now has less than seven months remaining on his contract.
Nevertheless, according to Marca, Barcelona are not confident about getting a deal for the Belgium international over the line.
The report suggests that the player's representatives have not shown much enthusiasm regarding a switch to Camp Nou at this stage.
That is said to have led to assumptions that the 25-year-old is already further down the line in negotiations with another club, the versatile midfielder not short of admirers in his services.
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Arsenal have been strongly linked with an approach for Tielemans, particularly at a time when it is known that Mikel Arteta wants to strengthen in that area of the pitch.
Although Leicester have recently moved four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone, the Foxes do not expect to retain Tielemans past the end of 2022-23.
While club officials may welcome the opportunity to receive a fee in January, it is deemed likely that Tielemans will now wait until the summer before departing the King Power Stadium.
Tielemans went into the World Cup in strong form, scoring two stunning efforts for Leicester and playing a key role in their revival.
However, he was provided with just 93 minutes in Qatar as Belgium under-performed and were eliminated during the group stages, missing out to Morocco and Canada.
Darren Plant
