Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of Youri Tielemans on a free transfer, with the move to become official on July 1 once his Leicester City contract expires.
The Foxes confirmed last week that the 26-year-old was set to be released when his current contract expires at the end of the month, and speculation had linked him with a move to Villa, while there was said to be plenty of interest from elsewhere too.
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As per the club’s statement though, the Belgian international has reached an agreement to join us and the deal will be made official on July 1 when he is a free agent, and it’s a real boost to get it done early to give Tielemans as much time as possible to settle when the squad returns for pre-season training.
Tielemans has gained valuable experience in spells with Anderlecht, Monaco and Leicester City and has proven his quality over time, while he has represented Belgium on 58 occasions at senior level too.
During his stint with Leicester, the midfielder scored 28 goals and provided 26 assists in 195 appearances, and although he had a disappointing season last year with the club being relegated from the Premier League, there is no doubt that he has talent and is capable of playing an important role for us.
Further, there is confidence that Emery will get the best out of him in the role and position that he deploys him in, as he has improved and developed those at his disposal already, both individually and collectively.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Emery called Tielemans personally to get the deal moving, and it’s suggested that he will put pen to paper on a four-year deal as we await his arrival at Bodymoor Heath in the coming weeks to be officially unveiled.
With Villa looking to continue to progress in the Premier League, challenge for domestic silverware and enjoy a deep run in the Europa Conference League, it was imperative that we added quality competition and depth, and we’ve hopefully now done that in midfield with the Tielemans signing.
