Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans is reportedly a target for Al-Hilal, with the Saudi club said to believe a bid of around €60m could be enough to prise him away from us.
The 28-year-old arrived on a free transfer in 2023, and after a solid if not extraordinary debut campaign with us, he has taken his own game and level of influence in the side to an entirely different level in the current campaign.
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Prior to his recent injury blow, he had made 52 appearances and contributed five goals and 10 assists so far this season, and the Belgian international deserves to sweep up at the club’s end-of-season awards for being such a fundamental presence in the side for Unai Emery.
His durability, consistency and quality have all stood out this year, and although we have impressive depth and competition for places in midfield, such is his importance to us, it’s seems highly unlikely that the club would consider an exit this summer as he surely has a pivotal role to play for us in the coming years.
Nevertheless, our resolve might be tested as Ben Jacobs reports that Al-Hilal have lined Tielemans up as a possible alternative transfer target to Bruno Fernandes, and believe that a bid of around €55m to €60m could be enough to prise him away from Villa at the end of the season.
Firstly, that figure seems incredibly low for a player of Tielemans’ quality off the back of the season that he is having, as he’s arguably emerged as one of the top midfielders in the Premier League given his all-round influence and impact in both phases of the game.
In turn, it doesn’t seem probable that Villa would entertain such bids, while the club would be foolish to green light an exit, unless the player requested one, as we need to build around individuals like Tielemans and not spend our summer transfer window trying to replace him.
It will perhaps be interesting if the offer is significantly higher than that, as that could then ask the question as to whether we should consider it to address our PSR concerns, while we have quality in the current group and Enzo Barrenechea returning from a positive loan spell with Valencia this season to consider, while being armed with the funds to bring in another top solution.
That said, we can’t keep losing core players year on year, and so it’s hoped that we dismiss interest in Tielemans, and if there is a need to sell this summer, we look to alternative fringe solutions to help balance our books.
