BERND LENO could be used as bait by Arsenal in their quest to snap up Leicester midfielder Youri Tielemans.
SunSport exclusively revealed that the Gunners are interested in the 25-year-old Belgian, who has one year left on his contract at the King Power Stadium.
But Tielemans was never a priority signing with Fabio Vieira, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko targeted before instead.
It was claimed in June how Arsenal had already agreed personal terms with the ex-Monaco man, with the club prepared to wait until later in the window to secure his services.
And they could now be poised to finally turn their interest into a formal offer following reports that the Foxes are keeping tabs on goalkeeper Leno.
The former Bayer Leverkusen shot-stopper has been touted as a possible replacement for Kasper Schmeichel, should he join Nice.
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Schmeichel's switch is thought to be dependent on Leicester finding a replacement first.
And Leno, who is tied down at the Emirates until 2023, is believed to be on Brendan Rodgers' radar.
The news will come as a huge blow to newly-promoted Fulham, who were in talks over an £8million transfer.
According to Football.London, Leicester need to sell first in order to bring in anyone, which could see Arsenal accelerate a move for Tielemans.
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This would then speed up Leno's potential departure to the Midlands outfit.
A domino effect would then be created should Tielemans join Arsenal, with the Foxes then having the funds to land Leno.
And Leicester would then be able to part ways with Schmeichel having brought in a replacement for the Denmark ace.
Arsenal technical director Edu recently hinted at more incomings this summer, though he has stressed that the club will also need to sell.
He said: "There’s still a lot to do, we are in the middle of the transfer window and things can happen.
“We are prepared for every single situation, opportunities maybe can happen.”
Before adding: "We have to [sell]. We have a big squad and now we have to make things happen.
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“We have to make some decisions on the players that we’re not going to be using consistently and be fair with them.
“That’s a process that is going to start very soon.”
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