Incoming Aston Villa signing Youri Tielemans has offered a more in-depth answer about his decision to join us this summer as a free agent.
The 26-year-old will see his Leicester City contract expire on June 30, and so unsurprisingly there was plenty of discussion over his future with a number of clubs likely to have been interested in acquiring his services given his talent.
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However, as per the club’s statement last week, Villa have agreed a deal to sign Tielemans on a free transfer, and he’ll officially join us on July 1.
It’s an important addition to Unai Emery’s squad, not only given the Belgian international’s quality, experience and the attributes that he brings to the group, but it also strengthens our competition and depth in midfield ahead of what could potentially be a gruelling season for us in terms of the fixture schedule.
With his composure, technical ability and passing range, Tielemans will no doubt provide Emery with a key tactical solution and option when needed, and he’ll certainly hope he can end up forcing his way into the starting line-up.
For now though, he has been explaining his decision to join us, and it sounds as though the ambition we have moving forward made it an easy sell for him, with Emery playing his part in convincing him that Villa was the right place for him in this next chapter of his career.
“I chose quickly because I knew immediately that I wanted to go to Aston Villa,” he told HLN. “Because of the conversations I had & the plan that was presented to me. It all made sense. Aston Villa convinced me. The coach convinced me. The project convinced me.
“That’s why it didn’t take me so long to choose. I also wanted it wrapped up as quickly as possible, because I want to be as free as possible in my head in the coming weeks. The project is very clear. Aston Villa is really ambitious.
“Aston Villa have made so many positive steps under the new coach. And the way he spoke to me, the way he explained everything & the confidence he expressed in me — all that convinced me.”
While further reinforcements are expected this summer, this was a positive and important start to our transfer window, not only in terms of adding competition in midfield, but to show that Emery and the club hierarchy are able to fend off competition for priority targets and get deals done to improve the squad.
Having since announced the appointment of Monchi as our new President of Football Operations, that is likely to have a big influence on our transfer dealings moving forward now too, and so it’s clear that Villa are putting the pieces in place to build an infrastructure and squad capable of being as competitive as possible both on and off the pitch in the coming years.