Why Losing Youri Tielemans Is a Bitter Pill Aston Villa Had to Swallow

I knew there was probably some bad news coming.

When Aston Villa trumped Newcastle for Johan Manzambi, my first thought wasn't simply excitement over a talented young player arriving at Bodymoor Heath. It was, "How have Villa managed to do this?"

I've been saying for weeks that Villa can't buy players without selling, the club have intimated the same. Even with Amadou Onana's wages coming off the wage books from a UEFA standpoint because of his long-term injury, it still didn't quite add up to me. Somebody, somewhere, was going to have to leave.

I just never really expected that somebody to be Youri Tielemans.

I got out of my car on Monday morning, looked at my phone and it had gone absolutely berserk. WhatsApp, X, notifications everywhere. Naturally, I expected transfer speculation, maybe news of a  departure, perhaps something around Morgan Rogers or Emi Martinez.

The last thing I expected to see was that Youri Tielemans was heading to Manchester United.

Then, just to top things off, Kevin Hatchard casually told me Lucas Digne was leaving as well.

Safe to say it wasn't the Monday I'd planned.

Out of the two departures, though, it's Tielemans that really stings.

After Tyrone Mings and John McGinn, he's been my favourite Aston Villa player over the last 3 seasons.

I loved him long before Villa signed him as well.

He was one of those players I'd always looked at and thought, "Imagine if Villa could attract someone like him." When it finally happened on a free transfer, it felt like an incredible piece of business and, over the last three seasons, he's justified every bit of that excitement.

He's been absolutely integral to everything Unai Emery has built.

When people remember this era under Emery they'll remember Champions League qualification, they'll remember Villa winning a European trophy and they'll remember one of the classiest midfielders we've seen in a claret and blue shirt for a very long time.

The goal in the European final alone means he'll always be remembered fondly.

Nothing changes that.

What disappoints me is that Villa wanted him to stay. They offered him a new contract. He's decided Manchester United is the move he wants.

Will some Villa fans be angry? Of course they will.

Manchester United are still Manchester United. They'll always provoke a reaction and Tielemans is going to receive criticism from some supporters simply because of the club he's chosen.

But if I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I can understand why he's made the decision.

Twelve months ago I don't think this move happens.

Manchester United weren't in the Champions League. Villa were arguably the better football project under Emery and I honestly think Tielemans would have preferred to stay where he was.

Things change quickly in football.

United have had a much better season, they're back in Europe's elite competition and, from his perspective, the opportunity probably looks very different now to what it did a year ago.

Do I like it?

No.

Do I understand it?

Probably, yes.

The thing I struggle with most is the fee.

Around £36 million feels low. There's no dressing that up.

When you look at what midfielders have been changing hands for over the last six weeks, players who, in my opinion, simply aren't as good as Youri Tielemans, it feels disappointing.

Now, there may well be reasons for that.

I've heard there may have been a higher release clause twelve months ago and that the figure reduced as his contract ran down. That's something I still need to get fully confirmed, but it would explain why Villa have found themselves in this position.

He's got two years left on his deal. He's approaching his 30th birthday next year. It doesn't stop the fee feeling underwhelming though.

At the same time, I am trying to find some positives because sitting here telling everyone the sky is falling in doesn't really help anybody.

The biggest positive is obvious.

Villa signed Tielemans for nothing.

Every penny of this transfer fee is effectively profit and, under UEFA's financial restrictions, profit is absolutely priceless. I've said for weeks that Villa's rebuild probably wasn't going to happen until next summer. Now it almost feels like it's been forced forward. Not because Villa wanted it. I'm certain they didn't. But because circumstances have dictated it.

Someone of significance had to leave this football club.

That was always going to happen this summer.

Whether it was Tielemans, whether it was Ollie Watkins, whether it was Ezri Konsa or somebody else, Villa were never getting through this summer without losing a player they'd rather have kept.

That's the reality of where the financial rules have left the club. It's frustrating. It's unfair in many respects. But it's also where Villa find themselves.

We went through exactly the same thing with Douglas Luiz. Everyone feared the worst when he left. Villa found solutions. Now they'll have to do it again.

The difference this time is the problem is actually bigger. Amadou Onana isn't available because of injury, now Tielemans is leaving as well.

Before any of this happened, I thought Villa probably needed one central midfielder.

Now?

I think they need at least two. Possibly even three. That's a massive change in a matter of days.

Suddenly everything rests heavily on Boubacar Kamara and, as much as I believe he's Aston Villa's best player when he's fit, we also know the other uncomfortable truth. Keeping Kamara fit has never been straightforward.

That means Villa are going to have to be incredibly active in central midfield over the coming weeks.

The other thing I've seen people mention is Tielemans' fitness record.

Again, I'm not trying to reinvent history here because I absolutely love the player, but it's worth talking about.

He's played an incredible amount of football for someone who's still only 29 years old. I saw a statistic that suggested he'd already played more senior games than Paul Scholes had by the time Scholes was 38. Whether that's exact or not, the point remains the same - Tielemans has an awful lot of miles in those legs.

He also missed a sizeable chunk of Villa's campaign last season.

When he came back, I actually don't think we saw him at his absolute best.

Now before people jump on me, because I know some will, I'm not saying he suddenly became a poor player. Far from it. A six or seven out of ten Tielemans is still a very, very good Premier League midfielder.

He's still someone who improves almost every team in the division. But I don't remember seeing a game after his return where he completely ran the show in the way we'd become used to.

Before the injury he'd dictate games. Everything went through him.

He'd slow things down when they needed slowing down, speed them up when Villa needed to attack and he'd constantly find passes that nobody else on the pitch could even see. When he came back, I thought he was good. I didn't think he quite reached those levels.

I don't think he looked fit, I felt the same in the World Cup.

Maybe we'd have seen the very best version of him again this year. Unfortunately, Villa aren't going to find out.

The biggest thing Villa lose isn't actually his passing range. It's his football brain. Jacob Tanswell has spoken before about how Emery's system allows players like Tielemans to flourish because everything around them is so well structured.

I'd go one step further.

Tielemans was effectively Emery's representative on the pitch. Emery has said he was like a son. That relationship wasn't just emotional. It was tactical. Tielemans understood exactly what Emery wanted almost before anyone else did.

He set the tempo, he organised, he communicated. He was Emery's eyes and ears in the middle of the park.

Finding another midfielder who can do that isn't easy.

Finding another midfielder who can do it while also possessing his technical quality is virtually impossible.

I actually think Manchester United supporters who aren't convinced by the signing will quickly change their minds.

If you don't think Youri Tielemans improves Manchester United's midfield then, honestly, I don't think you've watched enough of him. The only slight reservation I'd have is whether United actually have the right players around him.

At Villa he's benefited from playing alongside Kamara or Onana.

Those partnerships suited him. They allowed him to concentrate on what he does best.

When Jacob has been on my channel previously we've often spoken about how Villa's structure gets the best out of midfielders who maybe aren't blessed with endless athleticism. Emery creates the conditions for them to thrive. I'm not yet convinced Manchester United have those same conditions. Maybe they recruit someone. Maybe Michael Carrick sets them up differently. But I don't automatically look at that midfield and think it's a perfect fit.

Time will tell.

Back at Villa, though, Olabe and Emery have got a huge job on their hands.

The midfield suddenly looks incredibly light.

Kamara should be back for pre-season, which is a huge boost, but his fitness record means Villa simply cannot rely on him playing every minute.

I also wonder whether we'll start to see John McGinn play deeper more often. This is only my opinion, but it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

McGinn knows Emery's system inside out.

He understands the tactical demands better than almost anyone left.

If Villa are bringing new midfielders in, it often takes time for them to understand exactly what Emery wants. We've seen that with Tielemans himself when he first arrived, we've seen it with plenty of others as well.

Having someone like McGinn alongside Kamara while new signings settle wouldn't shock me at all.

He'll still play in the three behind the striker at times, because he's too valuable there not to, but I do wonder whether we'll see him used centrally more often this season.

As for recruitment, Villa simply have to act.

Before the Onana injury and before Tielemans' departure, one midfielder probably would've done.

Sometimes circumstances dictate difficult decisions. Sometimes good players leave clubs that don't really want to lose them, this decision was taken out of Villa's hands.

Villa now have to prove, just as they did after Douglas Luiz left, that they can find another solution.

Whether they can replace Youri Tielemans, though, is another question entirely, and the answer will become clearer as time moves on. It's a hell of an ask to get someone in who does anywhere near what he does.

And for me, he'll go down as one of the defining players of this Aston Villa era.