n signing Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans for just £35m, Manchester United may have picked up one of the deals of the summer. Aston Villa, however, will not be pleased to see such a key player depart. Adding to that frustration, his recent comments wouldn’t have gone down well with many at Villa Park.
The 29-year-old joined Villa in 2019 on a free transfer, signing from Leicester City. He’d won the FA Cup with the Foxes and then added the Europa League to his trophy cabinet under Unai Emery. Now at Old Trafford, Tielemans will be hoping for more silverware in the years to come.
The Belgian has already shown promising signs in a Man Utd shirt, earning praise from his new fans after an impressive 25-minute cameo against Paris Saint-Germain in his first appearance for the club. Amid the excitement of joining the Red Devils, though, he appears to have inadvertently upset the Villa supporters.
Speaking during Man United’s pre-season tour, Tielemans praised his former club for helping him get “back to my best level.” He then suggested Villa are a smaller club, adding:
“But there are clubs above Villa, and Manchester United is one of them.”
He concluded: “It is a great achievement for any footballer to end up here. It means you have done well in your career. But it does not end there. I want to be successful.”
As per the BBC, some Villa fans were ‘unhappy’ with Tielemans’ comments, and he appeared to get plenty of heat online as his former fanbase slammed him. It was so bad, in fact, that the player has since taken to social media to apologise for his comments.
Tielemans Issues Apology After Upsetting Villa Fans
Via his official Instagram account, Tielemans shared a statement on his story, in which he owned up to his ‘mistake.’ In full, he wrote:
“Never meant for my words in the press yesterday to offend anyone or the institution of Aston Villa Football Club, which I massively respect and I’m grateful for the past 3 years.
“I must however admit my mistake and apologise for my choice of words, will be more careful in the future. Wishing the club the best in the future.”
Tielemans spent three years at Villa Park, making 134 appearances and scoring 10 goals. With that in mind, he’ll have a complete understanding of just how much the club means to their loyal fanbase. This is evidenced in the way that he has quickly moved to apologise for his comments.
It will be interesting to see what sort of reception the Belgian gets when he plays against Villa next season. The first meet at Old Trafford on 7 November, before Tielemans returns to Villa Park on 16 January.
Tielemans has also spoken about his adaptation after working with new boss Michael Carrick. He told the press: “He has got his structure. He wants to have the ball, he wants to press in certain ways, you know. It might be different than what you are used to, what I have been used to before, but it is logical things in my opinion. It is just smelling football, and that is what I have been doing from when I was young at Anderlecht.
“So for me, nothing changes, but it just needs to gel together. Then when you follow those principles, then you can add your offensive qualities, especially in the last third where everything is a bit more in freedom, without obviously overcommitting and keeping the defensive line in place, then I think we can do good things.”