Arsenal 'draw up three-man midfield shortlist'

Mikel Arteta largely placed his faith in Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka as his first-choice pairing last term, with the latter electing to sign a new deal in spite of interest from Roma.

Albert Sambi Lokonga was largely restricted to a bench role during his debut season in North London, as Mohamed Elneny broke back into the side towards the end of the season during Partey's injury absence.

Elneny's strong run warranted a new one-year contract for the Egypt international, who was due to leave as a free agent at the end of the month, but the Gunners should still be in the market for midfield reinforcements after failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Lucas Torreira and Ainsley Maitland-Niles could both join Matteo Guendouzi in completing moves elsewhere, with the latter's loan signing at Marseille becoming a permanent one.

According to Goal correspondent Charles Watts, Arsenal have now identified three engine room targets for the summer window, the first of whom is Leicester City's Youri Tielemans.

The 25-year-old is running down the clock on his King Power contract and has entered the final 18 months of his existing deal, leading to hope of a cut-price transfer.

Tielemans could supposedly command a fee as little as £25m to leave Leicester after three-and-a-half years at the club, during which he has scored 24 goals and set up 24 more in 158 games.

The Belgium international has won one FA Cup and one Community Shield during his time with the Foxes and is said to be open to a move to the Emirates, in spite of the Gunners' failure to make the top four last term.

Watts adds that Manchester City left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has also been identified as a priority target after Arteta worked alongside the Ukraine international during his time at the Etihad.

While primarily featuring as a left-back for City, Zinchenko often dictates play from the midfield in Ukraine colours and impressed in his side's recent World Cup 2022 Qualifying playoff semi-final win over Scotland.

The 25-year-old only started 10 Premier League games last term, though, and his contract with the Premier League champions is up in the summer of 2024.

Finally, Arsenal allegedly still hold an interest in Wolverhampton Wanderers lynchpin Ruben Neves, whom the Molineux side have reportedly resigned themselves to losing.

The Portugal international is also attracting the interest of Manchester United and Barcelona, though, and he irked Arsenal fans with comments made over the Gunners' celebrations during their 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux back in February.

Neves scored four goals and assisted two more for Bruno Lage's side in the 2021-22 Premier League season, and the 25-year-old is also out of contract in two years' time.