Brendan Rodgers makes surprise admission over Newcastle United and Arsenal transfer target

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted he is unsure what lies ahead for reported Newcastle United and Arsenal transfer target Youri Tielemans.

The Belgium international is now in the final six months of his current deal at the King Power Stadium and he is able to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with a club from outside of England before making a free transfer switch at the end of the season.

There have also been suggestions a number of Premier League clubs could look to make a cut-price move for the midfielder and tempt the Foxes into parting company with a player they would lose for nothing in July when his contract comes to an end.

Newcastle and Arsenal were both heavily linked with a move for Tielemans in the final days of the summer transfer window but the 25-year-old remained part of Rodgers’ squad when the deadline passed in early-September. With the Janaury window now just hours away from closing, the Foxes boss has revealed he is still not sure what the future could hold for Tielemans and is determined to focus on the ‘fantastic young players’ he holds within his ranks.

He said: “I started this chat two years ago. I don’t know what can happen.

“My focus is on who’s here and we’ll see what happens. He’s only got a number of months left on his contract and this has been going on for two years. I’m not going to continue speculating. We’ll see what happens.

“It’s not an ideal world. We do our very best with what we have. That’s not saying I’m not happy with what we have here. We’ve got some fantastic young players who are going to develop and improve and get better with experiences and more of the demands. But it’s the freshness of the team and the squad. That’s something for the future.”