Youri Tielemans details how covert Man United move materialised

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Manchester United midfielder Youri Tielemans has broken down how his covert transfer to the club from Aston Villa came to be.

Surprise switch

Heading into the summer transfer window, it was an open secret that United’s priority was bolstering their midfield.

Having missed out on top targets Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes, who joined Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, the Red Devils were forced to cast a wider net. Their search led them to Andrey Santos (Chelsea) and Tielemans.

United moved swiftly to secure Santos, finalising a £50m agreement with Chelsea. But it was the breakneck speed of the Tielemans deal that truly caught supporters off guard.

Reports of discussions between United and Villa regarding Tielemans first emerged on a Monday morning. Less than an hour later, news confirmed that an agreement had been reached. The player underwent his medical the next day, with the transfer officially confirmed shortly thereafter.

The Belgium international made his debut last weekend as United played out a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain.

He came on as a substitute and during the time he was on the pitch, completed all his passes and nearly registered an assist for Bruno Fernandes.

Tielemans spoke to Sky Sports and revealed that the chance to join United was simply too good to pass up, although he had not planned to part ways with Villa. He also opened up on reuniting with Jonny Evans and Marcus Rashford.

Tielemans’ remarks

He told the news outlet, “There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve anything so I was just very calm about it.”

“It was mainly my agent that was dealing with it, I was more so focused on the World Cup which was a big thing for me. When it was time that it was accepted and acceptable, I would say then I was made aware. I was not expecting much [a summer move], to be fair. I was just focused on my football, focused on the World Cup, trying to perform as best as I could for my country. Then every summer something can happen.”

On whether he felt at some point in his career that the chance to be a United player had passed him by, the 29-year-old answered, “Not really, because I know that at Villa we did amazing things.”

“We achieved the Europa League win which was great for the club but there are still clubs above Aston Villa, and Manchester United is one of them. Especially at this moment, there is a very positive mood in and around the club so I am just hopeful that we can have a great story together.”

“Aston Villa is a great club and I owe them the world. They have put me back at my best level so I am very thankful.”

Asked about reuniting with Evans and Rashford, Tielemans told Sky, “Jonny has always been a main character. He has always been trying to educate young players and he welcomed me at Leicester and now here.”

“It is a bit weird to see him as a staff member to be honest, but it is going great and he knows me, he knows what I need and what I can bring to the team so it helps me as well.”

On sharing the dressing room with Rashford at Villa, “He was great. There had been so much talk about him and bringing pressure with the media around him, but I thought he was just so good. He was very humble, he was hard working and from the first training session, you could tell, his touch, his acceleration was amazing.”

“That was just what we needed at the time at Villa as well so he did many good things and hopefully he can bring them here.”

The Tielemans show could continue tonight. He’s in line for more minutes when United meet Leeds at Croke Park.