Tielemans: Who should sign the wantaway Leicester midfielder?

Per the latest news coming out of the Leicester camp, Youri Tielemans will resist signing a new contract with the Foxes; meaning he has less than 18 months left to run on his existing deal. The 24-year-old Belgian midfielder is certain to be in high demand if Leicester opts to cash in on him this summer.

Given the high level that he’s been playing at and his perceived ambition in not signing a new deal with Leicester, it’s expected that he’ll be looking at a Champions League club as his next move.

Tielemans is a technically-gifted midfielder capable of fulfilling a wide range of midfield roles including playing as a box-to-box midfielder, deep central midfielder, or attacking midfielder due to a potent combination of fantastic abilities on the ball, as well a strong footballing brain.

Over the past year, his shot-creating actions (SCA) per 90 minutes rank 95th percentile compared to other central midfielders, while he comes out strong in his progressive passes and progressive carries per 90 — suggesting a dynamic engine adept at linking the midfield to attack.

With his qualities and likely ambition in mind, let’s take a look at 5 clubs that would be wise to make a move for Tielemans this summer.

1) Tielemans to Liverpool

Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp have functioned like a well-oiled machine over the past few years but their lack of goal contributions and dynamism from midfield in recent times has been much discussed. With James Milner now 36, Jordan Henderson 32, and Thiago aged 30, this seems like a good time for Liverpool to make a leap in their midfield transition.

Not only does Youri Tielemans add first-team quality, his age, adjustment to the intensity and physicality of the Premier League, as well as ability to be able to play a variety of midfield roles ahead of a solid defensive midfielder in Fabinho, make him an astute signing for the Reds and importantly, one that would also match his personal ambition.

2) Manchester United need a player of Tielemans’ skillset

Manchester United have often looked like a club without a central idea or plan for their transfer activity for the better part of a decade now but the transitioning of Ralf Rangnick to a higher-up role and expectation that their managerial appointment in the summer will be in the Rangnick mold of pressing football, we’re better placed to guess the profile of signings United will be after.

Paul Pogba can leave the club for free this summer and there seems a surprising lack of faith in Donny Van de Beek to step into a first-team role at the club next season.

Thus, aside from adding a long-overdue defensive midfielder, signing Tielemans to either play alongside a defensive midfielder in a midfield 2 or as the deeper of the #8’s in a 4-3-3 will be a shrewd signing by the club.

His work ethic, intelligence, and quality make him an excellent fit for a possession-based pressing system, which is the likely direction the club is heading in with their next manager hire.

3) Tielemans perfect for Real Rebuild

The Spanish giants have transitioned their squad smartly and are now well placed this summer to make moves for long-term target Kylian Mbappe as well as other targets they deem necessary. Los Blancos have been employing a 4-3-3 formation or a variant of it for a long time now — to good effect.

Their legendary midfield trio of Casemiro, Kroos, and Modric have been absolutely immense for them but the club have begun to take steps to transition their midfield for the next decade of dominance.

Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga are young and very talented midfielders with their own unique skillsets including a tireless engine and well-rounded ability but neither possess the world-class playmaking ability of Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder will be 33 years old next season and a relatively cut-price deal for 24-year-old Tielemans who possesses a good passing range and technical ability will be a wise move in planning for the near future, giving Tielemans a season or two to make the jump to a new league and country without pressure.

4) FC Barcelona need to strengthen in the center of the park

Since their well-documented financial struggles in recent times, Barca’s transfer activity has been geared towards cut-price deals for players with an expired or expiring contract or towards re-establishing a Spanish core to the side.

Xavi has found life as Barca’s manager tricky in this early period and will be looking firmly at central midfield as a key area to strengthen in the summer.

In Frenkie De Jong and Pedri, Barcelona boasts two of the finest young central midfielders in Europe but adding some quality, experience, and steel via a first-team level midfielder would go a long way to improve the squad given Busquets’ aging legs.

Tielemans complements the aforementioned young midfielders well, is coming into his prime, and might be available at a price lower than someone of his ability would generally command given his contract situation.

5) Can the Leicester City midfielder complete the PSG dream team?

While PSG possesses better strength in depth in central midfield than every team mentioned above, the vast majority of their central midfielders are aged roundabout the 30-year mark, making it imperative that the club begin to plan for the future.

The club is crying out for a dynamic box-to-box midfield presence to complement Marco Verrati and a deeper midfielder in a midfield 3. The summer signing they had hoped to fill that role, Gini Wijnaldum, has thus far failed to hit the ground running.

PSG would likely have to sell some midfielders before buying one but it would be smart business to improve not only their first-team quality but also the age profile of their midfielders by moving to sign Tielemans this summer.