Youri Tielemans | signs for Villa

[CM]

Tielemans is in a pretty similar boat to a few of our current crop of players. He's had a fairly stagnant last 12-18 months with Leicester and has a point to prove if he wants to show he belongs at the top level. He would represent a bit of a gamble even for a low fee in January or a free in the summer but if we got him in addition to another midfielder a la de Jong, I wouldn't mind that so much.

Someone like Fred doesn't look massively suited to ten Hag football, so if we use an opportunity like this to move him out while supplementing our squad, we could do a lot worse.

 

[TheNewEra]

Tielemans is in a pretty similar boat to a few of our current crop of players. He's had a fairly stagnant last 12-18 months with Leicester and has a point to prove if he wants to show he belongs at the top level. He would represent a bit of a gamble even for a low fee in January or a free in the summer but if we got him in addition to another midfielder a la de Jong, I wouldn't mind that so much.

Someone like Fred doesn't look massively suited to ten Hag football, so if we use an opportunity like this to move him out while supplementing our squad, we could do a lot worse.

United need Tielemans, regardless of De Jong. I put my thoughts in the "what do we still need" thread.

Having Tielemans means that Eriksen can also rotate with Bruno higher up the pitch. United would still need to get a player in like De Jong and Bellingham which would in turn mean that Fred can leave the club.

United need 2 quality players that can all fight for spots meaning the best XI just gets selected by default.

I personally think £15-20m for Tielemans in Jan is an absolute must. Forget how he's been the last months at Leicester because the kids class.

There's statistics around "regression to the mean" where players have an insane breakout year and then regress to being average, you have the opposite too, having a stinker or a year but coming back. The kids 25, Tielemans in a top size will return to being top class/world class with quality players.

At Leicester he has an ageing Vardy, not great wingers, and a midfield that's injured quite a bit like Maddison good on his day but injured quite a bit. Ndidi is the only other quality player there.

At United he has a much much better coach, and he has great players around him. Behind him Varane, Martinez, next to him Casemiro (who will be a starter next month IMO) infront of him Bruno/Eriksen, and on the wings Sancho and Antony I mean its a huge step up where he can really grow as a player and take the next challenge.

I have zero doubts about Tielemans and he would be some coup, absolute no brainer for me.

The current iteration of him no thanks, not sure he will regain his form of a couple of seasons ago.

Needs a good World Cup

I think he's not really got the motivation now in a stagnant Leicester squad, up front you have a 35 year old Vardy. There's not a lot you can do as a midfielder. Tielemans is as versatile as it gets. He's a progressive player than can play in a deep role too.

Tielemans would surprise a lot of people, I wouldn't say no or write him off.

 

[lysglimt]

Is Tielemans better than Eriksen and Bruno ? No. Has he got the potential to be better than Eriksen and Bruno ? No - so we should not sign him. We dont need more squad-players - we need players who are good enough to take us closer to City - Tielemans wont do that.

 

[iKnowNothing]

Are there any recent rumors of club/ETH going for him? Or is it just caf speculation at this time?

 

[Who's Kissing Cameras?]

Avram Glazer likes this. Fred is twice the player.

Fred is half the player of Youri.

 

[Cloudface]

He's not that good, is lazy and has a bad attitude. He's not even worth a pack of hobnobs.

 

[honirelandboy]

Terrible attitude, lazy, sulks and goes missing in games. We can do better than him.

 

[Idxomer]

We need a mobile midfielder who's a good dribbler and can carry the ball forward, that's not Tielemans.

 

[TheNewEra]

We need a mobile midfielder who's a good dribbler and can carry the ball forward, that's not Tielemans.

We need an upgrade to Fred so we can challenge on all fronts and that can rotate with Eriksen, and Tielemans fits the bill he will be close to a free transfer considering his contract is up in the summer.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

I’d prefer Maddison if we’re looking at Leicester (who do seem to be selling players)

 

[VP89]

I’d prefer Maddison if we’re looking at Leicester (who do seem to be selling players)

He plays too far forward though. Might be good to rotate with Eriksen, mind. Assuming he can play that role.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

He plays too far forward though. Might be good to rotate with Eriksen, mind. Assuming he can play that role.

Yeah I was thinking to rotate with Eriksen, although he has played no.8 at Leicester as well as no.10

 

[afatzp]

Tielemans is not good enough. He was more a free rider with those real quality players like Ndidi , Vardy, Ricardo Pereira, Schmeichel, Evans , and now they have dropped forms due to age/injury/morale, Tielemans now shows his true color.

The problem is that he could not perform when pressed and man-marked. He has to keep moving to find spaces and reply on teammates to find the good timing to pass so he can receive the balls. Erikson is a similar player like that but he can handle the balls with first touch (thanks to his constant shoulder checks to well know the surrounding and accurate ball playing skills) , while Tielemans is far less visionary and skilled in this regard.

That means, Tielemans can only be a supporting role in mid field, and never able to serve as the core spine player to build play around, simply because he is easy to freeze if necessary.

 

[NoPace]

So this is being rumoured again: https://www.si.com/soccer/chelsea/t...-interested-in-chelsea-target-youri-tielemans

I don't think he can backup Casemiro, but he could backup Eriksen and it's possible Tielemans-Fred could play as a double pivot I guess and be adequate.

If we can buy him for say 10M, use him for the next 4 months and then sell him if we can get De Jong or Enzo in the summer then sure, but probably if we do this it's a sign of us not having money and Ten Hag wanting to spend money on a #9 and maybe a new GK because he's otherwise feeling good about the other 9 spots (once we sign Tielemans), with Maguire or Wan-Bissaka being replaceable without spending any actual money since they can be sold to Prem Teams.

Would McTominay stay as Casemiro's backup? My guess is yes for a year, though if we got a serious offer and he wanted to leave after only playing 15-30 instead of minutes a game to keep Casemiro's legs fresh and be 6th choice to actually start in the midfield 3 than maybe. Not sure if we'd sign a proper DM or not. Maybe just a utility guy who can cover RCB and DM like Timber or ideally someone with some height, though it's really hard to find players these days who can actually pass the ball well enough to play DM and still figure at RCB.

He hasn't been good enough to join us, but he has the base level of footballing talent and needs a new challenge. Ten Hag might see him as former prodigy who has turned out well and he wanted at Ajax but the club couldn't attract/afford from Monaco or Leicester and who could get to a new level playing for him. Belgium under Martinez do have some similarities to our style and he's been decent for them as an 8.

 

[Jericho]

What's he good at? I haven't noticed him in a while. Feels like one to avoid tbh.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Tielemans- Fred pivot would get absolutely ran through by a decent side. He's an absolute statue in midfield, not good enough at all to play DM. Great technique as a midfielder but he's not worth it for what he'd offer us.

We need to replace McTominay with actual cover for Casemiro. Scout a young DM that's promising and bring him in, would significantly elevate our squad depth and allow Casemiro to actually rest without just crossing our fingers hoping McT doesn't have a shocker.

 

[Threesus]

The opposition will be singing ‘Get your t**s out for the lads’ if we sign him. For that reason, I am out.

 

[elmo]

What's he good at? I haven't noticed him in a while. Feels like one to avoid tbh.

Middle class version of Pogba.

 

[Trex]

We don't need an Eriksen back up. We need a world class/top class cm.

 

[NoPace]

What's he good at? I haven't noticed him in a while. Feels like one to avoid tbh.

Good passer and shooter, really has most of what you want from the #8 position except he's too slow for the modern game in that position so probably needs to be accommodated as a the most advanced midfielder of the 3, though he's better further from goal, so this probably should be on a team playing 3-5-2 with attacking wingbacks or a team that doesn't really press as he's too slow to cover a ton of space. Possible his fitness could improve as he's wanted out of Leicester for a long time now.

Basically he's the opposite of Fred. Motivated and healthy and back in form, he'd be a good but not great bench option for us who could fill in for Eriksen in games against bad teams, with Fred playing against good ones.

And there's a small chance he blossoms here, Rodgers and Martinez are the best managers he's played for and Ten Hag is a better version of those guys. If we signed him it would be because Ten Hag rates his play for Belgium and for Leicester before this season (and about half of last season) and thinks he's a bit lost for his club, and we have no money for a #9 and a #8 this summer and Ten Hag thinks Eriksen can hang on in this role playing really well for 60 minutes a game if he also gets rested more. He could give us 30 good minutes of play as a slightly less slick and mobile Eriksen if he's performing.

TLDR: This could work even though he's slow, though really the reason it makes sense for him to replace Van De Beek is because it would be basically free other than wages and we might only have money for one big signing at #9. We get 12-24 months out of him and if he doesn't improve his running and play the best football of his career under Ten Hag , sell him in 2024 or 2025 for more than we paid for him (6 months left in contract and definitely leaving Leicester so will be at nadir of value this month) and sign a #6/8 that summer who needs another year to develop, like Musah, Lavia, Onana, Miretti, Gravenberch, Kokcu, Tonali or Ugarte to name some of the most promising young CMs, though the Italians would probably cost a fortune and not want to leave.

Could even be an agreement that he gets 4 months here, signs a short deal at big wages and can be moved on. We have no idea if Ten Hag thinks Eriksen can handle the next 4 months without cover, and if Tielemans is his 2019-2021 self, he's certainly good enough for that role and a better passer than Fred.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Honestly, this is an interesting one. It's because he's identical to Eriksen as both are not physically strong and quick but their asset is their passing attributes. Free agent as well in the summer and will save us lot of money.

The issue is that he's terrible at Leicester in the last 2 seasons and those 2 seasons been known as lazy player. Contrast to Eriksen because Eriksen is hard working player and technically is still better than Tielemans.

Being lazy is just not ten Hag type of player and this means he doesn't have a warrior character like Weghorst, Malacia, Lisandro, Casemiro, and Antony. I can give an excuse that he might lose motivation. And if ten Hag is managing him, he might be able to re-motivate and transform the player back to fulfill his talent.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

We really should be targeting a player of his ability on a free

 

[crossy1686]

He'd be a decent option to be fair but does he have what it takes to raise his standards to what Ten Hag wants?

 

[Adisa]

I think he is more of a McTominay replacement/upgrade.

 

[andersj]

I think his biggesr issue is his mobility. As plenty points out, he looks almost lazy at times. But that could have been said about most of our players too six twelve months ago. I think he could be a similar case like Rashford. Hugely talented players who has been poorly coached for most of his time in the PL.

There could be a big potential here and I do think he would be an upgrade on Eriksen. Think there will be alot of competition for him.

 

[MDFC Manager]

I think he's shit despite the caf's adulation.

 

[pascell]

I think he's shit despite the caf's adulation.

As do I and he's lazy in tracking back at times. Can't afford a player who decides when they do and don't want to be a team player.

 

[Brophs]

I don’t see it with him at all. He’s a nice footballer at times but he doesn’t look interested in doing the thankless jobs in midfield.

 

[OrcaFat]

I think his biggesr issue is his mobility. As plenty points out, he looks almost lazy at times. But that could have been said about most of our players too six twelve months ago. I think he could be a similar case like Rashford. Hugely talented players who has been poorly coached for most of his time in the PL.

There could be a big potential here and I do think he would be an upgrade on Eriksen. Think there will be alot of competition for him.

Surely not better than Eriksen. If Tielemans really bucked up his ideas, he might be slightly better than “2nd-half” Eriksen (tends to be physically spent). So he would be a rotation option at best, I feel.

 

[Woodzy]

I think most people wanted him on the basis that he wasn’t McTominay or Fred. I see absolutely no need for him now, our next midfield signing needs to be of the highest level, not someone to just make up the numbers.

 

[Kag]

No chance. I think the point is to improve on Eriksen, not bring in somebody considerably worse.

 

[dinostar77]

We really should be targeting a player of his ability on a free

Agreed. On a free a no brainer as a backup for eriksen.

 

[dinostar77]

No chance. I think the point is to improve on Eriksen, not bring in somebody considerably worse.

How are we going to do that if we have a limited budget this summer and need an elite striker?

Improving on eriksen will be difficult without spending a huge fortune. Potential new owners aside, we arent going to be spending another £200mil this summer buying a striker, CM and RB.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Would be all over this, great rotation option with Eriksen and would definitely help the second half of the season.

 

[Rozay]

Not good enough.

 

[JJ12]

I don’t rate him. That said if ETH likes him he’ll be cheap and can be an option off the bench, with Donny down. Could probably sell him in 18 months.

 

[jeepers]

Pass. We have Mejbri, Iqbal, Mainoo and Hansen-Aaroen.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Ships sailed.

 

[DWelbz19]

Yeah, he doesn’t really fix anything for us. He brings similar sorts of strengths to Eriksen but the very same style of weaknesses. No thank you.

 

[Erik the Red]

Would be all over this, great rotation option with Eriksen and would definitely help the second half of the season.

I think that ETH has seen that DVB is out for the rest of the season, and Tielemans would be relatively cheap cover for Eriksen. He can also continue in that role next season if need be, allowing us to target our preferred striker, and if we get new owners, we can go for Enzo Fernandez (as well as a striker), and sell Tielemans on for a profit.