Over the past five years or so Belgium has turned into the go-to place for footballing talent. The nation is knee deep when it comes to the sheer number of coveted footballers they have. The record-breaking signing of Youri Tielemans by Leicester City continues that trend. The 22-year-old Central Midfielder was bought by Leicester City for the staggering amount of 45 Million EUR, reportedly pushing the expenditure at the PL over the 700 million mark( euros) after having played for the club on loan in the previous season. What’s even more surprising is that Leicester is not one of those clubs that one would associate such a big price tag with but the tide seems to have turned with both this and the Ayoze Perez signing. As it turns out, they are not the only ones outside the usual suspects(top 6 teams) spending big money this season. Aston Villa has spent over 70 million while Wolves and Southampton are hovering over the 50 million mark( all figures are in euros). Smaller teams seem to be exercising their wallets to try to provide competitions to the top 6 in the coming season.
The Belgian has certainly been on the receiving end of some praise because of his performances for Anderlecht and the French side of Monaco along with the Belgian International Team. He was loaned out to Leicester and from the looks of the figure, it seems the English club were impressed with what they experienced with the 22-year-old.
The Numbers and the Talent at Display
Youri Tielemans played a brief amount of matches for Leicester on loan from the French Club but it would be hard to against someone claiming he made his presence felt. He played 20 matches with Monaco where he scored 5 goals and 1 assist with a passing accuracy of 79.9%. Then he moved on to English pastures where out of a mere 13 matches, he scored an impressive 3 goals and 4 assists. Combine that with his 85% passing accuracy, 2.4 shots and 1.2 key passes per game and a recipe for success is what comes to mind. These figures almost overshadow his defending nos., where he averaged 1.3 tackles in those 13 matches with Leicester.
Youri Tielemans
Tielemans is strong on both defensive and attacking ends which makes him a desirable candidate for the Central Midfield positions. His array of skills help him shift between Attacking and Defensive Midfield and stay effective in all those positions. He also has a tendency to veer towards the right side of the midfield and either pass to the right back or winger who moves up beside him or lay in a cross to the opposite side. His crossing ability and precision is surely one of the reasons why Leicester broke the bank for him. The Belgian frequently finds his mark and is able to lay in those deadly aerial balls from both right and left edges of the field. His vision adds further credibility to his skills as a passer. He often picks out the correct players even if a vast number of opposing defenders gang up on him. His shooting makes him deadly and thus attracts a lot of defenders to flock towards him and his vision allows him to pick out the players left empty in that moment and do damage. Through balls also seem to be part of his wheelhouse making him quite useful in situations that demand attack, which circles back to how good his read of the game is.
Playing at Leicester
Leicester seems to have benefited a lot from his Tielemans’ time there. He was extremely influential and beneficial in Leicester’s 3-0 win against Arsenal towards the end of the season. He helped create a high no. of chances for his team along with Maddison and Vardy and scored a goal against the Gunners. Other highlights were his games against Bournemouth and Fulham where he tallied an assist and a goal respectively. Keeping him in the team ensures these types of performances in the future thanks to a strong midfield.
His coordination with players like Chowdhury, Maddison, Ndidi, and Vardy up front will surely prove to be enormously advantageous for the team. Leicester City placed in the top 10 this past season with a higher no. of points than last season and with the 22-year-old at their side for a significant amount of time, they will look to improve their numbers and chase the position they won in the 2015-16 season.
