Manchester United have finalized the acquisition of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa on a five-year contract.
United triggered the 29-year-old midfielder’s £35m release clause. Tielemans recently helped Belgium reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
He has spent the last three seasons at Villa, having first arrived in the Premier League with Leicester City in 2019.
Tielemans said he is immensely proud to join United, calling it an incredible feeling to sign for such a special club, and describing the move as the culmination of years of dedication since he first fell in love with the game.
He will take the number 18 shirt, previously worn by Casemiro, who departed Old Trafford at the end of his contract.
A former teammate of United first-team coach Jonny Evans, Tielemans is remembered for his long-range winner for Leicester against Chelsea in the 2021 FA Cup final, and for scoring for Aston Villa in their Europa League final victory over Freiburg in May.
He debuted for Anderlecht at 16 years and 82 days, moving to Monaco in 2017 shortly after turning 20.
Despite still being in his 20s, he has amassed 668 appearances for club and country, scoring 79 goals in 578 club games.
United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, said Tielemans has been one of the Premier League’s standout midfielders over the past seven years, possesses the technical quality, ambition and mentality to succeed at Old Trafford, and will bring added composure, creativity and leadership to the squad.
Injuries to his calf and ankle limited him to 35 appearances across all competitions for Villa last season, his lowest total in an English campaign.
At the World Cup, he struck an 89th-minute equaliser against Senegal and then netted an extra-time penalty winner to reach 15 international goals from 90 caps in a 3-2 victory, before his tournament ended early due to a warm-up injury ahead of Belgium’s 2-1 quarter-final loss to Spain.
Tielemans follows fellow new arrivals Andrey Santos and goalkeeper Karl Darlow, while a move for Atalanta midfielder Ederson is currently on hold.