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StanSP

There's a Star Man! - Percy Telegraph Article on Tielemans

By StanSP, in Leicester City Forum

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StanSP

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£32m. A bargain. Another reason to give credit to Rudkin and Rodgers. And without his loan, he wouldn't have perhaps been persuaded to stay, so thanks to Puel for bringing him in! And thanks to us for making him feel so wanted and welcome. A star player :wub:

 

 



Leicester fans sing a song about Youri Tielemans, the lyrics too robust for publication in a family newspaper, but which can essentially be boiled down to: he plays in blue and white, and he is dynamite.

 

Tielemans is emerging as one of this Premier League season’s most gifted players, an increasingly key figure in the Brendan Rodgers revolution, and Manchester United and Arsenal fans are already demanding to know how he slipped through the fingers of their own clubs as they struggle to hang on to their place in the division’s gilded top six.

 

The 22-year-old midfielder has been involved in six goals from his last four games for Leicester and Belgium, scoring four himself, and will face Crystal Palace on Sunday in arguably the best form of his career.

 

He remains Leicester’s record signing but must be considered one of the bargains of the summer, a triumph for the club’s recruitment team and evidence of the transformation under Rodgers.

 

Telegraph Sport can reveal for the first time that the fee to sign Tielemans from Monaco in July was £32million, after Leicester successfully persuaded the Ligue 1 club to lower their initial asking price of £40m. In an age when players are routinely transferred for twice that fee, but deliver half the impact, it represents staggering value.

 

Ominously, Rodgers believes there is far more to come. “I was very fortunate when I came in because he was already here [after signing on loan in January]. You could see he was enjoying playing and obviously towards the end of the season we knew there was going to be interest,” he said.

 

“But we had a few long chats in terms of mapping out how it would look for him if he joined here on a permanent basis. He was keen to come but of course he had to explore the other possibilities, of which there was a number

 

He can come here and develop and flourish more as a player. He then may have other choices again later on but from a football and family perspective, this was the best option for him.”

 

United were indeed an option for Tielemans in the summer, but it was all dependent on whether Paul Pogba was sold to Real Madrid. Tielemans was not prepared to wait, and informed both Monaco and his representative that a permanent move to Leicester was the preferred next step in his career. 

 

Jon Rudkin, the club’s director of football, was worn down by weeks of bartering with Monaco but agreed a deal shortly before Leicester flew to France for a pre-season training camp.

 

Tielemans is now fully settled in north Leicestershire with long-term partner Mendy - they met in their early teens while Tielemans was at Anderlecht - and last month they welcomed a new addition to the family: daughter Leana, who is the baby sister of Melina.

 

“For Youri, football and family is key for him,” said Rodgers. “I think he wanted to come to a club not just for his football, but for the family. Bringing a young wife here, this is a club which is absolutely the perfect fit for him because it’s a really good family club, a community club.

 

“He came back a little bit later in pre-season and wasn’t quite up to speed, but now he’s up to that level with his fitness. He’s got a wonderful view of the game for a 22-year-old, compared to lots of 22-year-olds I’ve worked with. He’s got a real football brain, he understands the game absolutely 100 per cent. He’s been given a great education in football and he takes that onto the field.”

 

Tielemans is already in Leicester’s ‘leadership group’ - which consists of Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans and Ben Chilwell - and when you speak to people about his career the one striking aspect for many is his maturity.

 

He only turned 22 in May but it feels like he has been around for years, one of Belgium’s most hyped young talents. Captain for all of Anderlecht’s teams at junior level, he made his senior team debut as a 16-year-old and was the Belgian player of the year in 2017. The move to Monaco later that year never really worked out, mainly due to a fractious relationship with manager Leonardo Jardim, but joining Leicester has sparked his career back into life.

 

With an eye for goal and a wonderful wide range of passing, he is one of the catalysts for the press which Rodgers feels is so crucial to his high-intensity style of play.

 

Only Liverpool’s Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold have made more passes into the final third than Tielemans this season, while he has provided more assists than any other Leicester player since February.

 

Leicester appear genuine contenders to secure a top-four finish, and last week booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and signing Tielemans was a huge statement for Rodgers.

 

“I think he gets recognition but he’s not overly bothered by it,” said the Leicester manager. “That’s not why he plays the game. He plays the game to win and be the best he can be. He really is a fantastic player.”

 

 

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14 minutes ago, StanSP said:

Tielemans is already in Leicester’s ‘leadership group’ - which consists of Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Jonny Evans and Ben Chilwell

Found this interesting, strikes me as a good mix. Nice to see Chilwell is obviously well regarded by the staff and players even if our fans don't like him because he buys expensive clothes sometimes

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urban fox

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Interesting about being in the leadership group. Have noticed how how vardy  and co. Seem to really celebrate with him when he scores or assists. Just assumed that it was about making him feel part of the “family” but maybe they have taken him more to heart than that. He does seem to have the right character that fits right in with the atmosphere within the squad

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31 minutes ago, StanSP said:

 Tielemans is now fully settled in north Leicestershire with long-term partner Mendy - they met in their early teens while Tielemans was at Anderlecht

Cute 

 

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ScouseFox

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6 hours ago, NewquayFox said:

Diamond geezer yes, leadership group, I very much doubt it. One of the most together teams around so I can’t imagine a splinter gang will do much for the team moral...

there is deffo a “leadership” group, there has been for years. kingy’s mentioned it, big wes, kasper too. they’re the players who present the thoughts and feelings of the squad to the manager/senior staff or something. can fully see why youri and chilwell would be involved in that as well as the older guys, we’ve got a lot of young players and they might have a lot of different ideas or complaints that someone like vardy doesn’t actually give a shit about. good mixture of young and old, homegrown and big signings across every part of the club. 

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Trav Le Bleu

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Tielemans is now fully settled in north Leicestershire with long-term partner Mendy - they met in their early teens while Tielemans was at Anderlecht - and last month they welcomed a new addition to the family: daughter Leana, who is the baby sister of Melina.

Can I be the first to wish Youri and Nampalys all the best with their future.

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