Unai Emery lifts lid on 'very important' conversation with Youri Tielemans
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery believes Youri Tielemans' best qualities are "his mind and his mentality".
Tielemans joined Villa on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract act Leicester City in the summer of 2023. After a slow start last season, the Belgian now believes he is playing the best football of his career and Emery has hailed his commitment in striving for improvement after hitting a low point in his career 20 months ago.
“When I met him in his home, our conversation was very important to know him firstly as a man; how he lives his life every day, thinking football," Emery explained. "His ambition as well to try to keep being important in his career as a player and joining a club being as ambitious as him.
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"He is showing it. He’s always ready to play, he’s always focussing each match and competing in his thoughts 100 per cent to improve and help the team to follow our message.
“For us, last year was the adaptation for him to us and he had some moments playing in different positions. I think last year was very important in how he adapted to us and how he was understanding how we wanted to build the team with him.
"This year, he’s playing consistently, again in different positions because he is a versatile player. His best quality is his mind and his mentality.”
Tielemans, who got Villa back in the game against Arsenal last time out by halving their deficit at the Emirates Stadium, recently spoke about why he chose to join Emery's squad ahead of other options.
"There was a lot of interest," Tielemans told Villa TV. "I was out of contract that summer and I had a few chats with different clubs. There were many options at the time. I wanted to be fixed before pre-season. I like to do pre-season with the club I am doing the season with.
"Aston Villa was more and more convincing. I had chats with the manager and board members. It went smoothly and I am happy with that. We had a chat about tactics, where the club is going and also the results that the manager was getting in a short space of time. He improved lots of players in a couple of months and I saw myself there. I saw myself in the project and so far, so good.
"The aim is to start games and play as many minutes as you can. The manager, from the first conversation until the last, was always explaining his plan and how I fit in the team."
