Youri Tielemans has revealed that leaving Aston Villa for Manchester United this summer was not something he saw coming, despite Old Trafford interest resurfacing more than once during his career.
Asked directly whether he expected to depart his former club in this window, the Belgian midfielder gave a refreshingly honest answer.
Not really, no
It is easy to overlook the fact that Manchester United moved quickly and quietly to land a player with eight years of Premier League experience, arriving at what many consider the peak of his career, all thanks to a release clause set at just £35m.
According to ESPN, Manchester United have now officially confirmed the signing after triggering that £35 million release clause, with the club also bringing in Andrey Santos as part of a broader summer overhaul of the midfield.
The Athletic reported that Villa had tried to keep hold of their man by offering him new terms, but the presence of the release clause ultimately left them powerless to resist United's move, according to The Athletic.
Speaking in his first interview since completing the switch, Tielemans opened up on exactly how the deal materialised, particularly given that Manchester United had circled him on previous occasions without ever getting close to a deal.
There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve anything so I was just very calm about it. It was mainly my agent that was dealing with it, I was more so focused on the World Cup which was a big thing for me. When it was time that it was accepted and acceptable, I would say then I was made aware.
I was not expecting much [a summer move], to be fair. I was just focused on my football, focused on the World Cup, trying to perform as best as I could for my country. Then every summer something can happen.
Tielemans originally arrived at Villa Park as a free agent following his exit from Leicester City after their relegation to the Championship. Curiously, a move to one of the traditional 'top six' clubs never seemed to be seriously discussed during his time at either Leicester or Villa, which is partly why this transfer felt so unexpected when it finally happened.
So did he feel the chance to play for a club of United's stature had slipped away from him? Not according to Tielemans.
Not really, because I know that at Villa we did amazing things.
We achieved the Europa League win which was great for the club but there are still clubs above Aston Villa, and Manchester United is one of them.
Especially at this moment, there is a very positive mood in and around the club so I am just hopeful that we can have a great story together.
Aston Villa is a great club and I owe them the world. They have put me back at my best level so I am very thankful.
Villa's transfer balancing act
Tielemans' departure comes at a time when Villa are once again having to navigate familiar financial pressures. Our earlier coverage detailed how Aston Villa are weighing up sales and signings under Unai Emery amid familiar PSR concerns, with Tielemans himself named as one of the big names caught up in that balancing act alongside Morgan Rogers.
Statistically, Tielemans leaves Villa Park on the back of a strong campaign, having made 35 appearances for the club last season, scoring two goals and providing seven assists, according to FootballTransfers.
The same outlet reported that United had to see off interest from elsewhere in Europe to secure his signature, while The Athletic separately noted competition for his services before the deal was finalised, as detailed by The Athletic and FootballTransfers.
Separately, The Guardian reported that United turned their attention to Tielemans only after an unsuccessful pursuit of Atalanta midfielder Éderson, suggesting the Belgian was not necessarily United's first choice but became an efficient and cost-effective solution once talks with Villa progressed.
Reuniting with Evans and Rashford
Although Tielemans is still finding his feet in his new surroundings, one familiar face has clearly helped ease the transition — Jonny Evans.
The former centre-back spent four and a half years alongside Tielemans at Leicester and now forms part of Michael Carrick's backroom staff at Old Trafford.
When asked how it felt to be reunited with his old team-mate, Tielemans couldn't help but smile.
Jonny has always been a main character. He has always been trying to educate young players and he welcomed me at Leicester and now here.
It is a bit weird to see him as a staff member to be honest, but it is going great and he knows me, he knows what I need and what I can bring to the team so it helps me as well.
Another relatively fresh connection for Tielemans is Marcus Rashford, with whom he spent six months together when the England international joined Aston Villa on loan for the second half of the 2024/25 season.
With plenty of scrutiny surrounding Rashford's return to Manchester United and what he can offer this current side, Tielemans has nothing but positive memories of their time together at Villa Park and is hopeful of more to come at Old Trafford.
He was great. There had been so much talk about him and bringing pressure with the media around him, but I thought he was just so good.
He was very humble, he was hard working and from the first training session, you could tell, his touch, his acceleration was amazing.
That was just what we needed at the time at Villa as well so he did many good things and hopefully he can bring them here.
World Cup, his injury and Balogun's red card reversal
Tielemans has endured an eventful summer even before his surprise switch to Manchester United.
He captained Belgium at this summer's World Cup, a tournament that ended in a quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual champions Spain. Tielemans was ruled out of that quarter-final after suffering an injury in the warm-up, though he was quick to reassure United supporters that there are no lingering concerns heading into the new season.
It was just an overload of too many games, too many minutes and unfortunately my body could not cope with it anymore.
We played 120 minutes against Senegal and from there, we had less time in between games. We played the USA three or four days later, then three days after that, we played against Spain. In the warm-up, my body switched off for some reason.
Before that setback, Tielemans played a pivotal role in Belgium's run to the last eight, scoring twice in a dramatic round of 32 victory over Senegal.
Perhaps the most eventful fixture of all, however, was Belgium's round of 16 clash with the USA. In one of the tournament's most controversial moments, USA striker Folarin Balogun had his red card suspended for the match — though it ultimately made little difference as Belgium ran out 4-1 winners.
Originally we were surprised by the decision to revert the red card and his suspension.
Now for us, it did not really change anything other than the preparation leading up to the game because it is a different type of player than the other player that was meant to play.
Other than that, we were very calm and we just accepted our fate and tried to have a good game.
What happens next
With the move now formally completed, Tielemans has put pen to paper on a five-year contract at Old Trafford that runs until 2031, according to The Athletic.
He is now expected to be fully integrated into Michael Carrick's midfield plans for the 2026-27 season, per the same report, as United continue to reshape their squad following a summer of significant midfield business, including ongoing interest in Real Madrid's Aurelien Tchouameni and Tyler Adams as detailed in our earlier coverage of United's Tchouameni pursuit.
Play Super 6 for a chance to win £250k! Enter for free.
