Lee Hendrie has praised Aston Villa for signing Youri Tielemans on a free transfer after his departure from Leicester City by stating that it’s ‘not a gamble’.
At the age of 26, hitting the peak of his powers, a vast amount of Premier League experience to his name, played in Europe before, an FA Cup medal in his cabinet and 60 caps for Belgium.
Youri Tielemans ticks a lot of boxes for Unai Emery’s side and Hendrie thinks he is ‘another key addition’ to the club’s midfield, as he told Sky Sports.
Emery is transforming Villa into a possession-based team and someone like Tielemans has the ability to enhance the team’s quality on the ball.
It will be interesting to see how he will be used because he isn’t a number six, nor did he play as a number ten at Leicester, so it might just be a case of playing in that number eight role.
It could be argued that Villa’s strength is in the middle of the park, with Douglas Luiz winning the club’s Players’ Player of the Season and Supporters’ Player of the Season for the 2022/23 campaign.
Then there is captain John McGinn, who hit his best form under Emery, whilst Jacob Ramsey is edging closer to an England call and Boubacar Kamara is the defensive brain in the middle of the park.
Either way, it’s a very strong capture from the Midlands side, especially given that no transfer fee was paid for the player, with Hendrie sharing his thoughts.
“I think it’s a good signing,” said Hendrie. “He has got a lot to prove. He has got to come into the football club and really stamp his authority.
“He knows the Premier League, which is great. I like the fact that they are bringing in players who know what the Premier League is all about. It’s not a gamble, you know what he is capable of doing, so it’s another key addition to that midfield area.”
Does Tielemans start straightaway?
From the get-go, the fixture list is going to be packed for Villa as they embark on a European tour for the first time in over a decade.
In that sense, everyone will get minutes, but Emery still has to find his strongest XI once all his new faces are through the doors.
Rotation is going to be needed, but you don’t want forced rotation because players are out of form or just can find the rhythm.
But you would suspect, if Tielemans does hit the high notes in the middle of the park, then you would expect he starts more games than most.
