Leicester Prepared to Shatter Transfer Record to Secure Promising Loanee Youri Tielemans

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has suggested he is prepared to splash the cash to retain 21-year-old midfielder Youri Tielemans. The Belgian was brought

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers has suggested he is prepared to splash the cash to retain 21-year-old midfielder Youri Tielemans. 

The Belgian was brought in from Monaco on a short-term swap loan in January, with Adrien Silva going the other way. 

Claude Puel - the man who signed Tielemans - was himself shown the door less than a month later with Rodgers taking over the helm. However, the Belgian has quickly impressed the new boss, who hinted he is willing to break the club's transfer record to make the move permanent. 

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“The money is going up, absolutely. We shall see. As you know, the numbers go up each year. You pay for quality," Rodgers said via the Mirror in response to the question of breaking the club's transfer record for Tielemans. 

"The notion has been to bring in talent and develop them. There is a lot of work going on and a weekly meeting in terms of recruitment. There is daily dialogue in terms of players. It is never easy when you are trying to bring in players to improve the squad."

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Tielemans is currently set to return to his parent club Monaco in the summer who are rumoured to be demanding as much as £40m for his services. The Ligue 1 club have a prominent record for turning a strong profit on young talent and are believed to view Tielemans in the same category.

Silva could serve as a makeweight in negotiations to reduce the transfer fee, the Portuguese international cost Leicester £22m just over 18 months ago. 

The 30-year-old hasn't made quite as significant a cameo for Monaco though and his value is down since falling out of favour with the Midlands club. 

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Leicester will still be looking for a respectable sum for the Euro 2016 winner so respective deals could also be handled separately. Tielemans has two goals and four assists in 10 Premier League appearances for the Foxes.