Manchester United’s new midfielder, Youri Tielemans, has plenty of experience in the Premier League at Leicester City and Aston Villa, with experts of both clubs now telling United what to expect.
One week on from Manchester United’s transfer window looking to be in the mud, Ineos have suddenly recruited two stellar midfielders.
Andrey Santos arrived from Chelsea for £48m earlier this week, with the Brazilian set to be joined by Youri Tielemans in a £35m move this week.
Tielemans in particular is shockingly impressive, considering how brilliant a move it is from the fee to his quality and experience. But in order to learn more about what he offers, we have spoken with expert fans from both Leicester City and Aston Villa to learn more about the 29-year-old.
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Callum Boyle discusses Leicester City view of Youri Tielemans
In order to learn everything we can about United’s latest summer signing, United in Focus have spoken to Leicester City fan and GRV Media Audience Editor Callum Boyle.
We started by asking him what he makes of the deal for Tielemans.
“He is going to Man United for £35m there is no doubt in my mind that this could be the bargain of the summer. United have been craving a player like him for some time.”
Moving on, Boyle then explained what United fans can expect from Tielemans, both his strengths and weaknesses.
“Anyone who has watched Youri play knows that his main strength is his passing ability. He cuts through defences like a knife through butter and will be a dream for Benjamin Sesko etc. His ability to read the play, scan the pitch and be one step ahead of others is brilliant but most of all, his leadership. Having captained Anderlecht as a teenager, he knows how to handle the big occasion and act as a role model for others will be brilliant. When Fernandes isn’t playing, he is the perfect vice captain. As for improvements, I would have said his athleticism in the past but he is looking a lot leaner compared to his Leicester days. If he can continue to build on that, it won’t be a problem.”
Finally, we quizzed him on whether he felt that Tielemans would succeed at Old Trafford.
“This is one of those signings that makes you sit up and take notice because you realise how good it is. He was the reason that Villa impressed in the middle so much and he will do that here. A midfield duo of Tielemans and Mainoo is as good as any other in the league. Mentally he is ready, technically he is an upgrade and he forms part of that United midfield for the next five-seven years. I’m really excited to see what he can do.”
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Amir Mir gives Aston Villa view of Tielemans to Manchester United
To also gain insight from his time at Villa, United in Focus also spoke with Aston Villa fan and GRV Media journalist, Amir Mir.
We began by asking Mir how he felt about Villa losing Tielemans.
“Enjoy him, he’s unreal”, Mir began.
“Make no bones about it, this is a huge blow for Villa. There is a lot of talk around Morgan Rogers leaving Villa, my stance has been clear, I would rather lose a Rogers than a Tielemans. The simple reason is that Tielemans makes Unai Emery’s system tick. He is the heartbeat of it all. He is our best player. A few injuries last term, but still, he had a telling impact, including scoring that fabulous volley in the Europa League final.”
Continuing, he discussed how he felt Tielemans would settle into United.
“Well, you have signed him for the here and now. He has the quality, and some more. But you have to question what is around him.
“If Man United enhance the quality around him, then he will get going pretty much straight away. He will make that starting midfield role his own. Sitting deep, taking the ball off the backline and the keeper, and connecting with a host of attacking quality.
“The best part of his game is the technical side. Taking the ball under pressure. Feeding the ball to the most important players on the pitch. United have a lot of attacking quality on the pitch. They will all enjoy playing with him, because he will make them better. Make the correct decisions on the pitch, again, and again, and again.”
Much has been made over Tielemans’ injury record last season, but Mir tells us that he wouldn’t be concerned under one condition.
“Perhaps a weakness would be the fact that he did have a few injury issues last term. Would I be too alarmed? No.
“But under Unai, like many of the Villa players, Tielemans ran smarter, not harder. That’s why his off-the-ball stats are very good. Villa would always be in the bottom five in terms of distance covered by teams. The problem United might have is that Tielemans is asked to do a bit too much under Carrick, and then that results in him picking up a few too many injuries.”
He concludes that there isn’t any reason Tielemans will fail at United.
“Will he be a success? Yes. To be honest, even if Carrick struggles with the United pressure in his first full season and falters, I still expect Tielemans to thrive.
“During Emery’s time at Villa- you are talking around 140-odd Premier League games- the team would be fourth in the table in terms of points, behind Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal. One of the most important players behind that, as well as Europa League success, is Tielemans. There is no reason why he won’t succeed at Old Trafford.”
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