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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club Leicester City and the Belgium national team. Tielemans began his career at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 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, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, 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 (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, 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 (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

, he joined Leicester in 2019, initially on loan and then for an estimated fee of £32 million. He scored the only goal of the

2021 FA Cup Final The 2021 FA Cup Final was an association football match played between Chelsea and Leicester City at Wembley Stadium, London, England on 15 May 2021. Organised by the Football Association (FA), it was the 140th final of the Football Associatio ...

. Tielemans represented Belgium at several youth levels and before gaining his first cap 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 men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, also featuring at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

and the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

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 in the

2013 Belgian Super Cup The 2013 Belgian Super Cup was a football match that was played on 21 July 2013, between 2012–13 Belgian Pro League winners Anderlecht and 2012–13 Belgian Cup winners Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian provi ...

. 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 due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

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 ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

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 29,062.

at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 6 April 2014, a game in which he also assisted

Cyriac Gohi Bi Zoro Cyriac Sede (born 15 August 1990), known mononymously as Cyriac, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career In March 2004, Cyriac joined ASEC Mimosas. He was a topscorer of Côte d'Ivoire Premier Divi ...

. 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 The 2016–17 season of the Belgian First Division A was the 114th season of top-tier football in Belgium and the first following the structural changes in the Belgian football pyramid, reducing the number of professional teams to 24. It began o ...

. He won the 2017

Ebony Shoe Award The Ebony Shoe award (Dutch: ''Ebbenhouten schoen'', French: ''Soulier d'ébène'') is a football award in Belgium given annually to the best African or African origin player in the Belgian Pro League. The jury is composed of the coaches of leag ...

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 association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

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 The 2016–17 Ligue 1 season was the 79th season since its establishment. Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 1 June 2016. The season began on 12 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. On 17 May 2017, ...

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 at the

Grand Stade de Tanger Ibn Batouta Stadium (Berber: ⴰⵏⵏⴰⵔ ⵏ ⵉⴱⵏ ⴱⴰⵜⵓⵜⴰ, ar, ملعب ابن بطوطة) is a multi-use stadium in Tangier, Morocco. It is used mostly for football matches and big events such as ceremonies or concerts. The s ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain and assisting Djibril Sidibé's opening goal. On 4 August, Tielemans made his

debut in the 3–2 home win over

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Rayo Vallecano and often captains the Colombia national team. Nicknamed "''El Tigre''" (Spanish for ''The Tige ...

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, playing the full 90 minutes and registering his first competitive goal for Monaco by equalizing 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 (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, 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 weekly 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 exclusiv ...

'' 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

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

Leicester City

On 31 January 2019, Tielemans joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club Leicester City on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

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 & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. On 8 July 2019, Tielemans completed a permanent move to Leicester City, 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 council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

on 31 August, but courted controversy with a high challenge on Callum Wilson that escaped punishment even after consultation with the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

; 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

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 knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

title. He was named the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award 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 chosen from the winn ...

International career

In June 2015, Tielemans was called up to the senior

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against

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

. He finally made his senior international debut on 9 November 2016, in a 1–1

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

away draw to rival

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, replacing

Steven Defour Steven Arnold Defour (born 15 April 1988) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, currently manager of Mechelen. In his senior career he played for Genk, Standard Liège, Porto, Anderlecht, Burnley, Antwerp and ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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

qualifying Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

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

Style of play

Tielemans began as a

holding midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, 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 club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...

and Axel Witsel. A 2015 profile by

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

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 A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

, 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.

Personal life

Tielemans was born in

Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (; french: Leeuw-Saint-Pierre) is a Dutch-speaking municipality of Belgium located in the province of Flemish Brabant (Flemish Region). The municipality comprises the towns of Oudenaken, Ruisbroek, Sint-Laureins-Berchem, Sint ...

, Flemish Brabant. His father is of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

descent and his mother is of Congolese descent. He continued education until the age of 18, combining studies with his professional career. He lives in the

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

village of Quorn with his wife, Mendy, and their two daughters, Melina and Leana.

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:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Leicester City *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

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

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Belgium *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

third place:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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 GOAL is an international association football news website for FC Barcelona fans founded in 2004 by Chicco Merighi and Gianluigi Longinotti-Buitoni. It is published in 19 languages, with 38 national editions and 600 contributors. It is owned by ...

NxGn: 2016 * Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year: 2016–17 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

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

* Leicester City Players' Player of the Season:

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tielemans, Youri 1997 births Living people People from Sint-Pieters-Leeuw Footballers from Flemish Brabant Belgian footballers Belgium youth international footballers Belgium under-21 international footballers Belgium international footballers Association football midfielders R.S.C. Anderlecht players AS Monaco FC players Leicester City F.C. players Belgian First Division A players Ligue 1 players Premier League players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players FA Cup Final players Belgian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Monaco Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Black Belgian sportspeople Flemish sportspeople Belgian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent