Leicester’s Tielemans transfer decision is far from ideal
By Ethan Henson
Leicester City appear to have made a final decision on Youri Tielemans’ short-term future, according to reports. The Times’s Charlotte Duncker suggested last weekend that the Foxes are willing to maintain the services of the Belgian midfielder for the remainder of the 2022/23 season, allowing him to leave the King Power Stadium on a free transfer at the end of his current contract.
When Claude Puel elected to make Tielemans’ loan move from AS Monaco permanent in 2019, giving the green light for the club to part with approximately £40million, the intention was abundantly clear: for the midfielder’s stock to rise at LCFC meaning his eventual, inevitable sale to a European giant would land them a healthy profit. The way things have transpired, this is no longer the case, in spite of Tielemans’ three year term largely being viewed as a success.
Whichever way this is spun, this is not a good scenario, at all. discarding an elite playmaker, after taking him on as a barely proven, inexperienced personality and turning him into one of the most sought after talents in world football, and allowing him to depart the club for a transfer fee of zero, is an unmitigated disaster for Leicester City Football Club.