Manchester United midfielder, Youri Tielemans has opened up on his decision to leave Aston Villa for Old Trafford, insisting that United represents a step above his former club. 

The Belgium international completed a thirty five million pound move to United this summer after the club triggered his release clause, finally bringing to an end a transfer saga that had failed to materialise on two previous occasions.

Tielemans revealed that United had considered signing him twice before this successful move, first in 2019 following an impressive loan spell at Leicester City, and again in 2022, though neither approach led anywhere at the time. Speaking on the matter, he explained that discussions had taken place with the club on those two earlier occasions but nothing had come of them.

The midfielder said he had not anticipated leaving Villa this summer and had instead been fully focused on representing Belgium at the World Cup, describing himself as calm about his situation and not expecting much movement in the transfer window.

He explained that it was largely his agent handling the discussions with United while he kept his attention on his football and on preparing for the tournament with his national team, only becoming properly aware of the move once things had progressed to an advanced stage.

Despite his gratitude toward Villa, where he played a starring role in the club’s Europa League triumph last season, Tielemans made clear that he views United as a bigger stage, stating that there are clubs above Villa and that Manchester United is one of them.

He described completing the move as a major achievement in his career, a sign that he has done well, while stressing that he does not intend to settle for that alone and wants to go on to be successful at his new club.

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