Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Belgium national team.
Tielemans 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. After two years at Monaco in Ligue 1, he joined Leicester City in 2019, initially on loan and then for an estimated fee of £32 million. He played 195 total games and scored 28 goals, including the only goal of the 2021 FA Cup final. In 2023, when his contract expired, he joined Aston Villa.
Tielemans represented Belgium at several youth levels and before gaining his first cap for the national team in November 2016, aged 19. He was part of the squad that came third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup.
In June 2015, Tielemans was called up to the senior Belgium squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales. 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.
Tielemans was included in manager Roberto Martinez's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He played four matches in the tournament, including the 2–0 win over England in the third-place match.
Tielemans scored his first senior goal for Belgium on 21 March 2019, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match against Russia. He was called up for the delayed final tournament in May 2021, and for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. At the latter tournament, he was substituted at half time for Amadou Onana as the team struggled to a 1–0 win over Canada in their opening match. He was a substitute in the two other games of the group stage elimination, in which Onana and then Leander Dendoncker started alongside Axel Witsel.
Tielemans began as a holding midfielder, but was moved by Anderlecht manager Besnik Hasi to a more attacking role, where he scored long-range goals and was compared to Frank Lampard and Axel Witsel. A 2015 profile by Sky Sports noted his versatility as a defensive or attacking midfielder, concluding that his pace, passing and shot power suited the latter role better. Paul Van Himst, a former Anderlecht and Belgium player, noted at the same time that Tielemans had good skills with long passes. |
