Youri Tielemans
League: Premier League
Position: Centre Midfield
Club: Manchester United
Age: 29
Country: Belgium
Club History: Anderlecht, Monaco, Leicester City, Aston Villa, Manchester United
Major Honours: 2 X Belgian League (Anderlecht), 1 X FA Cup (Leicester City), 1 X UEFA Europa League (Aston Villa)
“We have always known Tielemans was a super talent. Whenever anyone asked me who I thought would go far, I would mention his name first.”
— Former Anderlecht youth coach Mohammed Ouahbi
Mark Pain | Alamy
When Michael Carrick ran out in one of his final Champions League appearances for Manchester United, he could not have imagined that the young midfielder he was facing that night would one day be handed the keys to a significant part of his own midfield.
By the time Tielemans was wearing the Anderlecht captain's armband as a teenager, Belgium's golden generation had already begun to announce itself. A generation that never quite delivered at international level, yet filled the shop windows of European football with faces that were impossible to ignore.
“I really looked up to first-team players at Anderlecht, and Zinédine Zidane, but that was more when I started to realise I could become a professional — that I could do something in football. My first memory of football was the 2006 World Cup.”
- Youri Tielemans
His story is the story of a boy who perhaps wanted to be number one from the very beginning — and who even started out as a goalkeeper — but whose career has been shaped, more than anything, by being pushed to the side and finding his way back. His family ran a local judo club. His sister played basketball. Youri went toward football, and the way he moved with the ball — his comfort on it, the ease of his dribbling — eventually pulled him away from the goal and into midfield, where he made the most sense.
Youri started as a goalkeeper in the Anderlecht academy but after conceding, he took the ball and dribbled through everyone and scored himself. Immediately the coaches responded by moving him, into the centre of the pitch where he has remained for the rest of his career. At age 16 he was playing Champions League football at the club he joined age 5.
Staying in the Belgian League for his early career was a wise choice as he continued to develop as a starter for the first team while he finished his education outside of football. All too often young players will move to a big club too early and miss out on the game time they need to develop. Youri did not make this mistake.
At age 20 Tielemans was an experienced player in the Belgian Pro League and Champions League. Monaco came for him with a £21 million offer, a record transfer fee for the Pro League.
However the real test was about to begin…
Anderlecht’s new star
Tielemans joined Monaco due to their reputation for developing young players and challenging for major trophies, they had just won Ligue 1 and reached the UEFA Champions League semi final where they were ultimately defeated by Juventus. However the club was about to go through a period of chaos just as Tielemans was arriving hoping for stability.
Due to how the club is run they rely on selling players for big profit and buying new young players to develop, at the end of the title winning season the squad was almost completely sold. Only a handful of players remained and a new batch of young players from across Europe were introduced to the club. Tielemans was one of these new players. Monaco failed to make an impact that season , and Youri struggled for game time.
Trouble in Monaco
The second season was much more chaotic. Monaco sold the remainder of their title winning squad from 16/17 and had managerial changes, they were soon caught in a relegation scrap while Youri battled with his injuries. However the experience he gained was value and he became more of a leader in the squad. He scored 5 goals from 20 games in the 18/19 season. Leicester City saw his potential and Tielemans joined them on loan in January.
After 13 Premier League games Leicester decided to sign him permanently, he went on to play 195 times for the club. He was not at Leicester City during the title-winning season that still feels like a fairy tale. But when the club finally lifted the FA Cup — the only one in their history — it was his goal that won it. He knows this league, its angles and its demands, better than most give him credit for.
The Man Behind the Moment
“During the transfer window, I was happy with the interest of certain big clubs. I needed to make a choice for my young career and I think it was the right one. To arrive off the back of a €45m transfer doesn't change anything. They already knew me at Leicester. My loan spell went very well. I wanted to continue playing for this club.”
After Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League Tielemans joined Aston Villa on a free transfer. He became part of the resurgent Villa team that competed for the top 4 and the Champions league. Youri scored Villa’s first Champions League goal in 41 years and became a leader for the club eventually winning the Europa League Title in 2026.
Players who begin as goalkeepers and migrate outfield tend to carry something the others do not: a reading of the game that comes from having once seen everything from behind. Perhaps that is why Unai Emery, at Aston Villa, asked more of Tielemans than Leicester ever had. The variety of Villa's approach across different fixtures pulled different qualities out of him — qualities that did not always have the space to breathe before.
Nobody understood this better than Michael Carrick. Sir Alex Ferguson had once placed similar demands on him, and now, as a manager himself, he knew exactly what to look for in his midfield. Tielemans was the answer.
He may not be the first name on the team sheet at Manchester United either. But Tielemans has never needed to be. He is the man who surfaces when the rhythm is gone — the quiet presence that steadies things before anyone else has noticed they needed steadying.
The art of never being first. He has spent a career perfecting it.
“I have had the privilege of experiencing success in the game and it has only increased my determination to achieve more. The ambition from everyone at the club is extremely clear; we are all determined to push for the biggest trophies over the coming years.”
SOPA Images | Alamy
Written by Daniel Dar