Youri Tielemans

Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City and for the Belgium national team.

Youri Tielemans
Tielemans playing for Belgium in the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Youri Marion A. Tielemans[1]
Date of birth (1997-05-07) 7 May 1997
Place of birth Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Belgium
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 8
Youth career
2002–2013 Anderlecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 Anderlecht 139 (26)
2017–2019 Monaco 47 (5)
2019 → Leicester City (loan) 13 (3)
2019– Leicester City 30 (3)
National team‡
2012–2013 Belgium U15 4 (2)
2012–2013 Belgium U16 10 (8)
2013–2016 Belgium U21 14 (6)
2016– Belgium 28 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 10:31, 20 November 2019 (UTC)

Considered one of the brightest young prospects in world football,[3] he began his career at Anderlecht, where he made 185 official appearances and scored 35 goals across four seasons. He won the league title twice and in 2017 was chosen as the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year. He is the youngest Belgian to play in the UEFA Champions League, making his debut in the competition at the age of 16 years and 148 days.

Tielemans represented Belgium at several youth levels and gained his first cap for the full side in November 2016, aged 19. He was part of their squad that came third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Anderlecht
Tielemans (right) captaining Anderlecht against Zenit in the UEFA Europa League's round of 32, 17 February 2017.

Born in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, located just outside the Brussels-Capital Region, Tielemans is a youth product of Anderlecht and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 16.[4]

On 21 July 2013, he was included in the senior squad for the first time, remaining an unused substitute in the 1–0 win over Genk in the 2013 Belgian Super Cup. A week later, he made his first-team debut in the opening round of the Belgian Pro League season against Lokeren, replacing injured Sacha Kljestan after 25 minutes of a 2–3 home loss.[5] This made him the fourth-youngest player in the league's history.[6]

On 2 October 2013, he became the youngest Belgian player to play in the UEFA Champions League, starting in a match against Olympiacos at the age of 16 years and 148 days.[7] He played 29 games – of which 21 starts – as Anderlecht won the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, scoring to open a 3–0 win over Club Brugge at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 6 April 2014, a game in which he also assisted Cyriac.[8] Tielemans won the Belgian Young Player of the Year award in each of his first two seasons.[6]

Tielemans in action for Anderlecht in 2016

Tielemans scored 13 times in 37 Belgian First Division A matches as Anderlecht won the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A. He won the 2017 Ebony Shoe Award for best player of African origin,[9] and was named 2016–17 Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year.[10] He scored 5 goals in 15 2016–17 UEFA Europa League matches, with his club reaching the quarter-finals, and was selected in its Squad of the Season.[11]

Monaco

On 24 May 2017, Tielemans joined 2016–17 Ligue 1 champions Monaco on a five-year deal for a fee of around €25 million.[12] He made his competitive debut on 29 July in the Trophée des Champions at the Grand Stade de Tanger, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain and assisting Djibril Sidibé's opening goal.[13] On 4 August, Tielemans made his Ligue 1 debut in the 3–2 home win over Toulouse, coming on as a substitute for Radamel Falcao in the 87th minute. He made his UEFA club competition debut for Monaco on 13 September in the UEFA Champions League group match away to RB Leipzig, playing the full 90 minutes and registering his first competitive goal for Monaco by equalizing in a 1–1 draw. On 16 September, Tielemans made his first Ligue 1 start and played the entire match in the 3–0 home win over Strasbourg, after having played a total of 56 minutes as a substitute in his first four Ligue 1 matches.[14][15]

France Football named Tielemans in their lists of the biggest flops of the first half of the season and the season overall.[16][17]

Leicester City
Tielemans (left) playing for Leicester City in a league match against Chelsea, 12 May 2019

On 31 January 2019, Tielemans joined Premier League club Leicester City on loan until the end of the season, with Adrien Silva going the other way in a swap deal.[18][19] On 9 March, Tielemans scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Fulham.[20]

On 8 July 2019, Tielemans completed a permanent move to Leicester City, on a four-year deal for an estimated fee of £40 million.[21] He scored in a 3–1 home win over Bournemouth on 31 August, but courted controversy with a high challenge on Callum Wilson that escaped punishment even after consultation with the video assistant referee;[22] referees' chief Mike Riley ruled that this was an incorrect decision and Tielemans should have been sent off.[23]

International career

In June 2015, Tielemans was called up to the senior Belgium squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales.[24] He finally made his senior international debut on 9 November 2016, in a 1–1 friendly away draw to rival Netherlands, replacing Steven Defour in the 82nd minute.[25]

Tielemans was included in manager Roberto Martínez's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[26] He played four matches in the tournament, including the 2–0 win over England in the third-place match.[27]

Tielemans earned his first senior goal for Belgium on 21 March 2019, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Russia.[28]

Personal life

Tielemans' father is of Flemish descent and his mother is of Congolese descent.[29] He continued education until the age of 18, combining studies with his professional career.[6]

Career statistics

Club
As of 23 June 2020[30]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Anderlecht 2013–14 Belgian Pro League 29121—4[lower-alpha 1]000352
2014–15 Belgian Pro League 39642—8[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0528
2015–16 Belgian Pro League 34621—9[lower-alpha 4]0—457
2016–17 Belgian Pro League 371310—15[lower-alpha 5]5—5318
Total 1392694003651018535
Monaco 2017–18 Ligue 1 2702010411[lower-alpha 6]0351
2018–19 Ligue 1 2051020601[lower-alpha 6]0305
Total 475303010120656
Leicester City (loan) 2018–19 Premier League 13300———133
Leicester City 2019–20 Premier League 3031052——365
Total 4361052——498
Career totals 22937134824663029949
  1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Two appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and four goals in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearance in Trophée des Champions

International
As of 19 November 2019[31][32]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Belgium
201620
201760
2018110
201992
Total282

International goals
Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first.[31]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.21 March 2019King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium Russia1–03–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
2.10 October 2019 San Marino6–09–0

Honours
Tielemans and Galatasaray's Wesley Sneijder, September 2014

Anderlecht

Belgium

Individual

References
  1. "Updated squad lists for 2018/19 Premier League". Premier League. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: List of players: Belgium" (PDF). FIFA. 10 June 2018. p. 3. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  3. Tighe, Sam (30 October 2014). "Top 100 European Football Prospects Aged Under 21". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  4. De Cock, Bjorn (28 October 2013). "In the footsteps of Vincent Kompany: Youri Tielemans". Benefoot. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  5. "Lokeren smeert jong Anderlecht al nederlaag aan" (in Dutch). Sporza. 28 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  6. "Who is Youri Tielemans? We profile exciting Anderlecht midfielder". Sky Sports. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  7. Scholten, Berend (14 February 2015). "UEFA.com's weekly wonderkid: Youri Tielemans". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  8. "Club go down 3–0 at Anderlecht". Club Brugge. 7 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  9. "Youri Tielemans verzilvert topstatus Ebbenhouten Schoen". HLN. 8 May 2017.
  10. "Gala du Footballeur Pro: Youri Tielemans élu joueur de l'année, René Weiler sacré entraîneur!" [Professional Footballer Awards: Youri Tielemans elected player of the year, René Weiler best manager!] (in French). DH. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  11. "UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season". UEFA. 25 May 2017.
  12. "Officieel: Youri Tielemans tekent contract tot 2022 bij Franse kampioen Monaco" [Official: Youri Tielemans signs contract until 2022 with French champion Monaco] (in Dutch). HLN. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  13. De Beck, Mike (30 July 2017). "Tielemans meteen goed voor splijtende assist in eerste officiële wedstrijd" [Tielemans shows his worth with a clever assist in first official appearance] (in Dutch). HLN. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  14. "Monaco and Leipzig share Champions League spoils". Ligue 1. 13 September 2017.
  15. "career data of Youri Tielemans". Soccerway. 16 September 2017.
  16. "Youri Tielemans dans les flops de la première partie de saison en Ligue 1" [Youri Tielemans among the flops of the first half of the Ligue 1 season] (in French). 7sur7. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  17. Vens, Clint (20 May 2018). "Recordtransfer Anderlecht opgenomen in lijst grootste flops van de Ligue 1" [Anderlecht's record transfer included in list of Ligue 1's biggest flops] (in Dutch). Voetbalkrant. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  18. "Leicester Complete Loan Signing of Youri Tielemans From Monaco as Adrien Silva Departs". 90min.com. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  19. "Youri Tielemans Joins On Loan As Adrien Silva Heads To Monaco". Leicester City F.C. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  20. "Leicester 3–1 Fulham: Jamie Vardy double earns Brendan Rodgers first win". BBC Sport. 9 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  21. Cooper, Barry; Davies, Matt; Kemble, Jamie (8 July 2019). "City transfer news live - Youri Tielemans officially signs". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  22. "Soccer-Bournemouth fume after Tielemans' rash tackle goes unpunished by VAR". Reuters. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  23. Stone, Simon (12 September 2009). "VAR: Four incorrect decisions fail to be overturned in Premier League". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  24. "Belgium's Marouane Fellaini out of Wales tie". BBC. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  25. "Netherlands 1–1 Belgium". BBC Sport. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  26. "World Cup 2018: Belgium include Vincent Kompany but Christian Benteke misses out". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  27. McNulty, Phil (14 July 2018). "Belgium 2–0 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  28. "Belgium 3-1 Russia: Eden Hazard scores twice in Euro 2020 qualifier". BBC Sport. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  29. Bate, Adam; Terreur, Kristof (6 January 2014). "Targets: Belgium". Sky Sports. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  30. "Y. Tielemans". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  31. "Tielemans, Youri". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  32. "Youri Tielemans". European Football. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  33. "Anderlecht's Praet is Belgium's best". UEFA. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
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