Aston Villa manager Unai Emery oversaw a fantastic turn of form when he came into the club as Steven Gerrard’s replacement, and having finished the 2022/23 Premier League campaign sat in a very lofty seventh place in the table, we now have European football to look forward to next season.
Aston Villa is delighted to announce that the club has reached an agreement to sign Youri Tielemans.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) June 10, 2023
Nobody saw that coming given our woeful positioning and performance levels under the former trainee, but it’s amazing how much players can improve when coached, and managed, by someone who knows what they are doing. Who thought that might be an important piece of the puzzle eh!
Whilst Emery will no doubt give a few players currently out of the picture a chance to impress during the summer, with the added Europa Conference League journey, it was inevitable that the gaffer would be looking to strengthen, add additional depth, and move those on that he feels cannot do the job he’s asking of them – so on a transfer front it was always going to be an interesting summer.
And we have wasted little time putting our plans into action, quickly capitalising on Leicester City’s slide down the table and back into the Championship by securing out of contract experienced midfielder Youri Tielemans.
The 26 year old Belgian international had great spells with both Anderlecht and Monaco before making the move to the Premier League and Leicester back in 2019. Having impressed on his initial loan spell, they forked out £40 million for his services over the summer and he played a major part in their domestic and European adventures in the last few years.
He is undoubtedly a great addition to our midfield strength and he definitely brings in different qualities, which gives Emery extra options as he looks for greater consistency in our performance levels as we continue to adapt to his preferred style of play.
Tielemans officially joins on July 1 when his existing contract comes to a natural end, and many will feel the signing is a bit of a coup as there was plenty of reported interest in his services from European teams, but the benefits for us speak for themselves. He’s settled in the country with his family, he probably already knows a few of the players, so it really shouldn’t take him long to settle at the club as there is no major re-adjustment period for him to go through.
It’s a free transfer, it isn’t quite a statement signing, but I think history will show this could be one of the most important signings we have made in a good few years. Strategy wise, it is certainly one of the cleverest signings in a while.
