24-year-old expected to join Liverpool after talks held to sign him - personal terms not an issue

Former Liverpool and Spurs star Paul Stewart says he 'can see' Youri Tielemans in a red shirt next season after claims that talks were held with the Reds.

The Belgian has long since been linked with a move to Anfield and his FA Cup final performance against Chelsea saw his stock spike dramatically.

He scored with a 30-yard thunderbolt that was reminiscent of Steven Gerrard and despite Belgium being eliminated from the EUROs last week, talk surrounding a move to Liverpool has quietened somewhat.

Talks held and personal terms not an issue

Of course, any potential barrier to joining Liverpool would be over Leicester City's asking price but even so, the Reds would reportedly not have an issue agreeing on personal terms with Tielemans.

TeamTalk cites Het Nieuwsblad, who asserts that Liverpool are happy to pay Leicester City’s asking price for the Belgian but that seems unlikely given that the Foxes will demand a huge fee for the 24-year-old.

Tielemans expected to join Liverpool this summer

Paul Stewart, who made 32 appearances for the Reds, says that he expects Tielemans to be a Liverpool player this summer and wouldn't be surprised to see him in red next season.

He told This is Futbol: “I think he’s quality. I know that his stock has gone up since the cup final goal, but I think he’s been quality all season and I can see him being at Liverpool before the start of next season.

“But it’s a thing with Leicester, they’re going to put his price up really high because they don’t have to sell, but if the player wants to go the only club I can see him going to is Liverpool, and I can see him in a red shirt next season.”

Liverpool need to sell to buy big

Transfermarkt values the Belgian star at £49.5million (€57.6m) and I think Leicester would actually demand more than that.

He only has two years left on his contract but he's going to be a world-class player if he can perform at a consistently high level over the next few years.

Leicester are aware of his value and as they demonstrated in talks to sell Harry Maguire to Manchester United, they are prepared to stick to their guns and they eventually earned £80million from his sale.

Frustratingly, Liverpool once again need to sell in order to buy this summer and it seems incredibly unlikely that they will be able to generate the funds needed to sign Tielemans.