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Youri Tielemans explains surprise Manchester United move and World Cup experience
12th August, 2026 07:08 PM
Youri Tielemans has revealed that he did not anticipate leaving Aston Villa during the summer transfer window before completing a move to Manchester United.
The Belgium international joined United for a reported £35 million (Ksh6.1 billion) after the club activated his release clause, bringing to an end his three-year spell at Villa. Tielemans, who has eight years of Premier League experience, has now discussed the circumstances behind the unexpected transfer.
The midfielder said Manchester United had previously shown interest in him, but earlier discussions failed to result in a deal.
“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,” Tielemans said.
“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.”
Tielemans admitted that he was concentrating primarily on representing Belgium at the World Cup rather than planning a summer transfer.
“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.”
Leaving Villa
The 29-year-old arrived at Aston Villa as a free agent after Leicester City were relegated from the Premier League. Despite his quality and experience, a move to one of England’s traditionally dominant clubs had not materialised until United came calling.
Tielemans does not believe he had missed his chance to join a major club, pointing instead to the progress he made at Villa.
“Not really, because I know that at Villa we did amazing things,” Tielemans explained.
The Belgian played an important part in Villa’s success, including their Europa League triumph. However, he acknowledged that United remain a club with ambitions beyond those of his former side.
“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.”
Injury ended Tielemans’ World Cup early
Before moving to Manchester, Tielemans had already experienced a demanding summer as Belgium captain at the 2026 World Cup.
Belgium reached the quarter-finals before Spain ended their campaign. Tielemans, however, missed the last-eight encounter after suffering an injury during the pre-match warm-up.
The midfielder explained that the issue came after a demanding sequence of matches and insisted he is ready for the new campaign.
“It was just an overload of too many games, too many minutes and unfortunately my body could not cope with it anymore.
“We played 120 minutes against Senegal and from there, we had less time in between games. We played the USA three or four days later, then three days after that, we played against Spain. In the warm-up, my body switched off for some reason.”
Before his injury, Tielemans had made a major contribution to Belgium’s tournament, scoring twice during their dramatic round-of-32 victory over Senegal.
