Aston Villa rush deal to sign Youri Tielemans as Leicester exit development emerges
Aston Villa are rushing Youri Tielemans to respond quickly to their advances with the midfielder now available on a free transfer, according to The Mirror.
Tielemans, 26, will officially become a free agent at the end of the month when his contract at Leicester City expires.
The Mirror reported via their print edition on Thursday (8 June, page 54) that Unai Emery wants to bolster his central midfield options this summer and hopes Villa’s qualification to the Europa Conference League can lure Belgium international Tielemans to Villa Park.
Tielemans played 31 times in the Premier League this season as Leicester were relegated to the Championship.
He scored three goals and supplied two assists in those games.
According to stats by WhoScored, Tielemans completed 82.1 per cent of his passes for the Foxes this season, averaged 50.2 passes per game and one key pass per game in the Premier League.
They’re relatively low numbers considering the fact that in the 2021/22 season, the ex-Anderlecht ace completed 83.5 per cent of passes, averaged 53.4 passes per game and 1.2 key passes per league fixture.
His passing statistics were clearly down, which could be caused by numerous factors as Leicester clearly were worse overall this season while the Belgian’s contract situation at the King Power cannot have helped his form.
Former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith took charge of Leicester in April but he failed to keep the East Midlands outfit in the top flight and it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be in charge in the Championship next term.
He was a big fan of Tielemans though in the games he was in charge of the central midfielder. As quoted by the Independent on 14 May, Smith backed the 26-year-old despite the fact his contract was winding down.
“I’m completely comfortable with his commitment, I’ve seen nothing but a committed player in and around the training ground and on the pitch,” Smith said.
He added: “I’m very good at reading people and as soon as I met Youri you know that football means a lot to him, the same about Cags (Soyuncu) when I looked him in the eyes and it means a lot to him.”
In other Aston Villa news, the club could be set to receive an “unbelievable” cash prize.