Arsenal could reportedly try to strike a part-exchange deal with Leicester City involving Bernd Leno and Youri Tielemans.
Leno lost his place in the Gunners' starting XI to Aaron Ramsdale last season and has now seemingly dropped to third choice behind the England international and Matt Turner.
With only one year left to run on his contract at the Emirates Stadium, Leno will most likely head for the exit door as he searches for regular game time ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Fulham were initially believed to have been in a strong position to sign Leno and had reportedly reached an agreement over an £8m transfer after Arsenal lowered their asking price.
However, Leicester are now said to be in the race to sign the 30-year-old to replace Kasper Schmeichel, who is closing in on a move to Ligue 1 side Nice.
© Reuters
As a result, The Express claims that Arsenal could now look to take advantage of Leicester's interest in Leno to finally secure the signature of midfield target Tielemans.
Mikel Arteta is known to be in the market for midfield reinforcements - despite already signing Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko - and Tielemans has long been considered a leading name on the Gunners' shortlist.
Like Leno, Tielemans is also due to become a free agent in 2023, leading to optimism that Arsenal could wrap up a deal for the 25-year-old for a fee of £30m in the coming weeks.
The Gunners appeared to cool their interest in Tielemans earlier in the window while they focused their efforts on other targets, and there were also alleged to be concerns from those higher up about the Belgium international's physicality.
However, such reports are now thought to be wide of the mark, and Arsenal have now been presented with the opportunity to agree a deal with Leicester that could benefit both parties.
© Reuters
Leno started Arsenal's first three games of the Premier League season against Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City, conceding nine goals in that trio of losses before Ramsdale broke into the side.
The Germany international then made just one further appearance in the top flight, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Aston Villa back in March.
Meanwhile, Tielemans ended another productive year with six goals and four assists in 32 Premier League appearances in 2021-22, but Brendan Rodgers's side missed out on a place in Europe.
Manchester United have also been credited with an interest in signing Tielemans, with the Red Devils continuing to be frustrated in their pursuit of Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong.
Despite interest from the 20-time English champions, Tielemans has allegedly already told his friends that he wants to sign for Arsenal this summer.
Ben Knapton
