Youri Tielemens’ story would have been different had he joined Arsenal. Do you agree?
For some football players, a transfer to a big club only comes once, and so missing out on it can disrupt a player’s mind. In 2022, there were different reports linking Youri Tielemens with a move to the Emirates; unfortunately, that didn’t happen. For the Gunners, that was just a transfer failure, but for Tielemens, it must have left him devastated.
Charlie Adams on Tielemens failed move to Arsenal said on the Squeaky Bum Time Podcast: “I look back at Leicester, and they lost Schmeichel, they lost Fofana. Tielemans was half gone; you could see it; he was mentally gone in his head.
“You can see that he didn’t get his move to Arsenal in the summer. Maddison is probably the only one who played to a decent enough level to warrant a bit of interest or an England call-up.”
His brilliance last season wasn’t felt as it ought to have been last season and he struggled for his form. Leicester had a pretty decent squad — on paper — to avoid relegation, but some of their key players failing to turn up saw them struggle and get relegated.
In the summer, Tielemens was a free agent after his deal at King Power Stadium ended. He had a chance to wait on an Arsenal transfer given the failed move the summer before, but he wasn’t patient. With a whole summer to choose a new club, he quickly moved to Villa, not wasting time. As early as June 10, he had a new home. Now a move to Villa doesn’t seem to have been his wisest decision as he has yet to start a PL game and is down the pecking order. Unai Emery seems to prefer Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara, and Moussa Diaby for his midfield. Belgium football legend Philippe Albert has even claimed Tielemens is not Emery’s plan.
“His lack of minutes is glaring. You can feel it. He’s not part of Unai Emery’s plans at Aston Villa, and training will never replace the tempo of a real match,” said Philippe Albert to RTBF.
Reports have, for the better part of this week, suggested the Belgian midfielder wants out of Villa as he has had a falling out with Emery.
Had he waited and been patient in the summer, who knows? We may have ended up signing him, given that we failed to satisfy our transfer need for another central midfielder after recruiting Rice and Havertz.
Do you think we should consider going for Tielemens in the winter transfer window, with Villa likely to let him go?
Darren N
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