It was announced today by the world’s biggest journalists that Tielemans is the new Manchester United player and, honestly, I find it hard to understand how there are Red Devils fans who don’t see this signing as a great piece of business. It is as close to perfection as it gets.
United urgently needed to strengthen their midfield. They signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea and tried to sign Ederson, without success, and that’s a good thing.
Tielemans is one or two levels above Andrey Santos and, between him and Ederson, even though they are different profiles, I prefer Tielemans. And there is one important factor: he is Premier League proven.
On top of that, the fee is low. His release clause is around €40 million, which is cheap in today’s market.
Nowadays, any decent player is valued at close to €100 million. People can talk about his age, 29, but he can easily give another four or five years at a high level. His style of play does not depend on physicality or pace. Technique does not disappear.
Conclusion
It is a great signing. Is it enough? No. If the objective is to challenge for the Premier League title, they still need at least one more top midfielder at Tielemans’ level.
And it is not just that. They are also missing players out wide, but for the midfield, they only need one more.