Leicester City legend Jamie Vardy has heaped praise on Youri Tielemans and backed his 'unbelievable' former teammate to reach another level altogether at Manchester United. United triggered a £35million release clause in the Belgian's contract at Aston Villa, and Tielemans signed a five-year deal at Old Trafford, tying him to the club until 2031.
Tielemans' Journey to Old Trafford
Tielemans will be expected to add an extra dimension to Michael Carrick's engine room along with fellow signing Andrey Santos. After joining up with his new teammates, Tielemans revealed he had held discussions with United on two previous occasions before his move this summer.
Villa managed to cling on to Tielemans ahead of last season, and the 29-year-old played an instrumental role as Unai Emery's men won the Europa League while also securing Champions League football with a fourth-placed finish. Before that, Tielemans ensured he went down in Leicester folklore by scoring the winning goal in the side's stunning FA Cup final victory over Chelsea at Wembley.
Vardy's High Praise
Vardy was also a part of Leicester's success that day and, after four-and-a-half years together at the King Power Stadium, it's clear Tielemans left a sizeable impression on the iconic striker. 'I just think he'll start kicking on again if I'm honest,' Vardy said on his Jamie Vardy's Having A Party podcast when discussing Tielemans' summer switch to United. 'I played against him with Belgium, he was unbelievable and you were like, "Wow, who is this?", because he was only young at the time.'
'It then came through that we [Leicester] had signed him on loan at first and I remember going around all the lads and saying, "We've signed a player here!", and I mean a really good player. He came in and straight away you could tell… the dedication, 100 per cent every day. He would then get in the dressing room and he was so down to earth, so normal. He was a real breath of fresh air for us at that time.'
Morgan Echoes Sentiments
Wes Morgan, featuring as a guest on the podcast, echoed Vardy's glowing remarks about Tielemans while highlighting the playmaker's 'dedication' to his profession both on and off the pitch. 'What I've seen with Youri is dedication to his job,' the ex-Leicester captain explained. 'I always used to see him in the gym, working extra hard and doing extra work. He was really working on improving himself. He never took it easy in training, he always gave it 100 per cent, but he's another one that has that technical capability, that awareness and that speed of thought.'
'I'm not surprised to see him go to the top and be at Manchester United now. Hopefully he'll show everyone how good he is. He deserves everything that he's got so far.'
Early Days at United
United got a chance to see Tielemans in their colours for the first time during the side's 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month. The Belgium international also came off the bench against bitter rivals Leeds before completing the full 90 minutes in the Red Devils' 4-2 defeat to AC Milan in Poland. He will no doubt be chomping at the bit to continue his run in the side this weekend as Carrick's men prepare to kick off their Premier League campaign away to newly promoted Hull City.
