BREN AIMS TO TIE UP TRANSFER
BRENDAN RODGERS insists Leicester will “do everything they can” to sign loanee Youri Tielemans permanently.
The Belgium midfielder has excelled at the King Power since a January switch from Monaco – with Adrien Silva going the other way.
A summer deal to buy the 21-year-old would cost £40million, but Foxes fans made their feelings clear as they chanted “sign him up” after his man-of-the-match display in Leicester’s 3-0 home win over Arsenal.
Tielemans opened the scoring with a header for his third Premier League goal to add to four assists in England.
And boss Rodgers (below, with Tielemans) said: “He is paid to create and score and he’s doing that very well. “It’s important that you have players that are hungry to score and Youri has got that.
“He had a great shot as well which was very close.
“He has shown great efficiency since he was here. “For his age, he has great maturity in his game and we are very pleased with that.
“There will be dialogue between the clubs. He’s a player we would like to work with and I understand the fans love watching a young player like that. I’m sure the club will do everything they possibly can to bring him in.”
Tielemans was just one of several young stars to impress in a dominant Leicester display as they capitalised on Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ first-half red card for two bookings.
Jamie Vardy also hit a brace, and Rodgers added: “I thought 11 against 11 we were the better side on the ball.
“Our idea was to make sure the players suffer in training to get fit and strong so in the latter part of games they can get goals.
“They did that last week and today and it rounded off the dominance in the game.
“The squad dynamic is really good, we don’t need wholesale changes in the summer. We have a really good group and if we can add a few bits of real quality that can help us push on.”
Rodgers also praised youngster Hamza Choudhury for impressing, snapping into tackles in midfield on his first start under him. “I thought he was brilliant,” he said.