Youri Tielemans: Manchester United’s £35m Steal, Says Obi Mikel

Manchester United have made a lot of expensive mistakes in midfield over the past decade. This, according to two men who know the position inside out, is not one of them.

For John Obi Mikel, Youri Tielemans isn’t just a smart signing. He’s the midfield signing of the summer – and at £35 million, he can’t quite believe United pulled it off.

Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, the former Chelsea anchor didn’t bother to dress it up.

“For me, it’s Youri Tielemans. Honestly, how the f*ck did Manchester United get him for £35m? That’s a f*cking steal,” Mikel said. “I watched him before and during the World Cup, and you can see that this is a player.”

Mikel has seen enough elite midfielders to know the difference between a tidy technician and a genuine organiser. Tielemans, in his eyes, lands firmly in the latter category.

He went straight to the tactical heart of it. Tielemans’ value isn’t just in his passing range or his shooting, but in the way he lets a coach redraw the blueprint mid-game.

“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,” Mikel explained. “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 criticism that tends to follow the Belgian is his lack of raw pace. Mikel brushed that aside.

“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.”

That’s a bold line in a market where midfielders have moved for eye-watering fees. But Mikel isn’t alone.

Toby Alderweireld, who shared a dressing room with Tielemans for Belgium, sees the same thing: a player whose influence goes way beyond the numbers.

In an interview with Hajper, the former Tottenham defender cut straight through the modern obsession with spreadsheets and dashboards.

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

For Alderweireld, Tielemans is the connective tissue of a team. The player who turns safe possession into something dangerous. The man who dares.

“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,” he continued. “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.”

That last point cuts to the core of United’s long-standing problem. Too often, their build-up has been sterile: possession for possession’s sake, passes that go sideways and backwards while opponents settle into a deep block. Tielemans, as Alderweireld describes him, is the antidote – a midfielder who accepts risk as the cost of real progress.

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

This is where both former pros meet: mentality. Technique gets you the contract; personality keeps you on the pitch at Old Trafford.

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

United have spent years chasing a midfielder who can dictate, create and carry the weight of expectation without shrinking. If Tielemans is as brave, as forward-thinking and as tactically flexible as Mikel and Alderweireld insist, £35m won’t just look like a bargain.

It will look like a turning point.