Liverpool ‘pull plug’ on midfield signing due to one key reason amid competition from Arsenal

Liverpool have reportedly ‘pulled the plug’ on a deal for Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans, who is set to be out of contract in the summer.

The Belgium international is expected to leave the Foxes at the end of this season when his current contract expires.

Tielemans has managed to overcome a difficult spell at Ligue 1 side AS Monaco to establish himself as one of Leicester’s most important players.

He has rightly earned a lot of plaudits for his performances over the past couple of years. It was somewhat surprising that he did not leave Leicester last summer when he was available for around £30m.

Arsenal have been in the market for a midfielder over the past year and they have been linked with Tielemans.

Earlier this week, it was claimed Arsenal have ‘backed away’ from talks with the player’s representatives.

Now Football Insider are reporting that ‘will not pursue Tielemans this summer’.

The club’s hierarchy have ‘pulled the plug’ on a potential deal as ‘Jurgen Klopp’s recruitment team have analysed the player but deem him not mobile enough’.

Liverpool will still ‘look to recruit multiple central midfielders in what promises to a be a major overhaul in the upcoming window’.

The report goes on to suggest ‘Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount at the top of their shopping list’.

The Reds are facing heavy competition in the race to sign Bellingham. Manchester City and Real Madrid are also interested in him.

Speaking last month, journalist Ben Jacobs claimed Liverpool have an “advantage” over Real Madrid in the tussle for Bellingham.

“They’ll be up against Real Madrid and also Manchester City and some believe that Manchester United, especially under new owners, might come into the equation as well. Chelsea are there; they are minor players, they’re certainly not serious contenders at this point.

“And the advantage Liverpool have as a Premier League club is they might be able to blow Real Madrid out of the water in terms of the price that they’re prepared to pay, whereas with Real they will always be entering into the Bellingham equation, hoping that they would be able to get him for x or under 100 million which now seems pretty ambitious.”