Pundit raves over Man Utd ‘f****** steal’ who completely outshines big-money signings | OneFootball

Manchester United have been told they have made one of the signings of the summer, who is a ‘f****** steal’, ahead of the new Premier League season.

The Red Devils have so far added Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Karl Darlow to Michael Carrick’s first-team squad, with youngsters Tynan Thompson, Kit Margetson and Cristian Orozco also joining the club’s academy.

While Brazilian star Santos was the first signing of the summer at £48million from Chelsea, it was the addition of Tielemans for just £35m from Aston Villa that came out of the blue.

In a summer where huge amounts have been spent on the likes of Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Bruno Guimaraes, former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel rates Man Utd‘s capture of Tielemans as the pick of the bunch.

“For me, it’s Youri Tielemans,” Mikel said on The Obi One podcast when asked for his take on the most impressive midfield signing of the summer.

“Honestly, how the f*** did Manchester United get him for £35m? That’s a f****** steal. I watched him before and during the World Cup, and you can see that this is a player.

“Obviously, we all know how Tielemans plays, he can play as a six, an eight or a ten and when you have a player that can play anywhere, it gives you the variety to change the way you want to play. Tielemans is that guy.

“He scores goals, he’s dangerous from set pieces, he’s brilliant on the ball, and he rarely gives it away. The only thing people can say is that he’s not the quickest, but he reads the game so well.

“He is very intelligent with and without the ball. When I look at all the midfielders that have transferred to different clubs [this summer], the best one is Tielemans.”

Alderweireld doubles down on Tielemans praise

Meanwhile, former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld has also praised United’s move for his fellow countryman.

“The problem with modern football is that sometimes we look too much at stats like assists and goals,” he told Hajper.

“Of course, Youri Tielemans creates assists and scores goals, and can shoot from outside the box and score free kicks, but he is so much more than that.

“Tielemans is a link-up player, and you have to watch him to understand why he is so important to his teams, not just look at his stats, because he is always trying to play the ball forward.

“You have some midfield players who have a pass success rate of 98%, but they are always playing the ball backwards. Tielemans is a guy who turns, opens up and plays the ball between the lines, and that’s very important for a club like Manchester United who need to break other teams down.

“Even when he’s playing in a deep role, he’s playing it in an attacking way. He’s thinking about going forwards, always.

“Sometimes he will lose the ball but that’s what happens when you take some risks in games to make things happen, and I think that’s something United need, and he has the mentality to be brave and positive under the big pressure of the shirt.

“He will put in ultra big effort and say to his teammates, give me the ball and let me change the game for you. He will take the responsibility to take Manchester United forward.”