Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and the Belgium national team. Tielemans began his career at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, 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 The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, making his debut in the competition at the age of 16 years and 148 days. After two years at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

, he joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 2019, initially on loan and then for an estimated fee of £33 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 A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the national team in November 2016, aged 19. He was part of the squad that came third at the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

, also featuring at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and Euro 2024.

Club career

Anderlecht

Tielemans is a youth product of

and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 16. On 21 July 2013, he was included in the senior squad for the first time, remaining an unused substitute in the 1–0 win over

Genk Genk () is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality comprises only the town of Genk itself. It ...

in the 2013 Belgian Super Cup. On 28 July 2013, he made his first-team debut in the opening round of the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

season against

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

, replacing injured Sacha Kljestan after 25 minutes of a 2–3 home loss. This made him the fourth-youngest player in the league's history. On 2 October 2013, he became the youngest Belgian player to play in the

, starting in a match against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

at the age of 16 years and 148 days. He played 29 games – of which 21 starts – as Anderlecht won the

2013–14 Belgian Pro League The 2013–14 season of the Belgian Pro League (also known as ''Jupiler Pro League'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2013 with the match between Club Brugge and Charleroi and f ...

, scoring to open a 3–0 win over

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 6 April 2014, a game in which he also assisted Cyriac. Tielemans won the Belgian Young Player of the Year award in each of his first two seasons. Tielemans scored 13 times in 37 Belgian First Division A matches as Anderlecht won the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A. He won the 2017 Ebony Shoe Award for best player of African origin, and was named 2016–17 Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year. He scored 5 goals in 15

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played between Ajax and ...

matches, with his club reaching the quarter-finals, and was selected in its Squad of the Season.

Monaco

On 24 May 2017, Tielemans joined 2016–17 Ligue 1 champions

on a five-year deal for a fee of around €25 million. He made his competitive debut on 29 July in the

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

at the Grand Stade de Tanger, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 loss to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and assisting Djibril Sidibé's opening goal. On 4 August 2017, Tielemans made his

debut in the 3–2 home win over

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Categoría Primera A club Millonarios F.C., Millonarios. Nicknamed "El ...

in the 87th minute. He made his UEFA club competition debut for Monaco on 13 September in the UEFA Champions League group match away to

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

, playing the full 90 minutes and registering his first competitive goal for Monaco by equalising in a 1–1 draw. On 16 September, Tielemans made his first Ligue 1 start and played the entire match in the 3–0 home win over

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, after having played a total of 56 minutes as a substitute in his first four Ligue 1 matches. ''

France Football ''France Football'' is a French monthly magazine containing football news from all over the world. It is considered to be one of the most reputable sports publications in Europe, mostly because of its photographic reports, in-depth and exclus ...

'' named Tielemans in their lists of the biggest flops of the first half of the season and the season overall. He scored his first Ligue 1 goal in his 31st game on 2 September 2018, in a 3–2 home loss to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Leicester City

On 31 January 2019, Tielemans joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

until the end of the season, with Adrien Silva going the other way in a swap deal. On 9 March, Tielemans scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. Tielemans completed a permanent move to Leicester City on 8 July 2019, on a four-year deal for an estimated fee of £32 million. He scored in a 3–1 home win over

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

on 31 August, but courted controversy with a high challenge on

Callum Wilson Callum Eddie Graham Wilson (born 27 February 1992) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Premier League club Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and the Englan ...

that escaped punishment even after consultation with the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

; referees' chief Mike Riley ruled that this was an incorrect decision and Tielemans should have been sent off. On 15 May 2021, Tielemans scored the only goal of the 2021 FA Cup Final with a long-range strike against Chelsea in the 63rd minute, sealing Leicester's first ever

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

title. He was named the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

Aston Villa

On 10 June 2023, Premier League club

announced that they had reached an agreement to sign 26-year-old Tielemans on a free transfer, upon the expiry of his Leicester City contract on 1 July. He made his debut on 12 August in the season opener, a 5–1 loss at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, in which he replaced the injured Leon Bailey at half time. On 26 October 2023, Tielemans scored his first goal for Aston Villa in a 4–1 away

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

victory over

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

. At the end of season awards for the 2024–25 season, Tielemans was voted both Supporters' and Players' Player of the Season for Aston Villa that season.

International career

In June 2015, Tielemans was called up to the senior

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. The 19-year-old finally made his senior international debut on 9 November 2016, in a 1–1 friendly away draw to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, replacing Steven Defour in the 82nd minute. Tielemans was included in manager Roberto Martínez's 23-man squad for the

in Russia. He played four matches in the tournament, including the 2–0 win over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the third-place match. Tielemans scored his first senior goal for Belgium on 21 March 2019, in a

qualifying match against

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. He was called up for the delayed final tournament in May 2021, and for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

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.

Style of play

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 Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

and Axel Witsel. A 2015 profile by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

noted his versatility as a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, 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. Primarily a box-to-box midfielder at Leicester, Tielemans has played frequently as a number 10 under Unai Emery at Aston Villa, frequently making progressive passes and recovering the ball for his team. During the 2024/25 season, Tielemans was highlighted as one of Aston Villa's best players and was praised for his footballing intelligence, accurate shooting, ball recoveries and passing, with his midfield performances being compared to that of his Belgian compatriot

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (; born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and captains the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. After spending mos ...

. He set a Premier League record in November 2024, completing 126 successful passes in Villa's 3–2 victory against Everton.

Personal life

Tielemans was born in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw, Flemish Brabant. His father is of Flemish descent and his mother is of Congolese descent. He continued education until the age of 18, combining studies with his professional career. As of 2020, he lived in the

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

village of

Quorn Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin. Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...

with his wife, Mendy, and their three daughters.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first.''

Honours

Anderlecht * Belgian Pro League/First Division A: 2013–14, 2016–17 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( ; ; ), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian Pro League champions (also received the Super Cup host) and the Belgian Cup winners. If both teams are the same, ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Leicester City *

: 2020–21 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Belgium *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 2013–14, 2014–15 *Belgian Talent of the Year: 2014 * Best Youngster of the

: 2014, 2015 * Goal.com NxGn: 2016 * Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2016–17 *

top assist provider: 2016–17 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Squad of the Season: 2016–17 * Ebony Shoe: 2017 * Belgian Silver Shoe: 2017 * Leicester City Player of the Season: 2020–21 *

Players' Player of the Season: 2020–21 *

Player of the Season: 2024–25 *

Players' Player of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

Profile
at the Aston Villa F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tielemans, Youri 1997 births Living people People from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Footballers from Flemish Brabant Belgian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders R.S.C. Anderlecht players AS Monaco FC players Leicester City F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Belgium men's youth international footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Belgium men's international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Black Belgian sportspeople 21st-century Belgian sportsmen Belgian sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent