Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans has revealed that Unai Emery was a key factor in his decision to join us this summer.
Villa officially unveiled the Belgian international on July 1 having now joined us as a free agent, and he gave his first interview to the club to offer his thoughts on the move.
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After an impressive stint at Leicester City where the 26-year-old made 195 appearances for the Foxes, scoring 28 goals and providing 26 assists, he now begins the next chapter in his career and will hope to be an influential figure in our ongoing progression under Emery.
While the opportunity to help us push on and compete higher up the Premier League table as well as for domestic and European silverware in the coming years would have been vital, Tielemans has also spoken about how important his discussions with Emery were too.
“When I had a few chats with the manager, his ambition, his passion and the way he led the team impressed me and made me decide to come to Aston Villa,” he told VillaTV. “It’s a big club. I’m really excited.
“It’s a new challenge for me after four-and-a-half years at Leicester. It’s been a good time but now is the time to move on for myself and my family. Now I’m at Aston Villa, I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t wait to get started.
“Playing in Europe is always a great achievement, and the way the manager led the team back to Europe is an amazing achievement.
“We have to be ready for it. European cup competitions are always special. They will hopefully be some good nights.”
Competition will be fierce in the Villa midfield with Jacob Ramsey, Douglas Luiz, Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn all establishing themselves as key figures for us last season in Emery’s system, while it remains to be seen if any further reinforcements arrive in that department.
Nevertheless, with Villa hoping to play in excess of 50 games in the upcoming campaign across all competitions, we’ll need that competition and depth to manage the schedule, and with Tielemans offering technical quality, composure and an ability to control the tempo of games with possession, he will hopefully be a perfect fit for Emery’s preferred style and will prove to be a crucial addition.
Having now had his move officially announced, we’ll look forward to seeing the Belgian midfield ace in action during pre-season, with our first outing coming up against Walsall on July 15.
