Manchester United's Tielemans Signing Branded A Steal by Mikel
Manchester United have made a lot of noise this summer, but one signing is cutting through the chatter. For John Obi Mikel, there’s no debate: Youri Tielemans is the midfield buy of the window – and United have landed him for what he calls a “f*cking steal.”
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, the former Chelsea midfielder didn’t bother dressing 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 what a complete one looks like. Tielemans, he argued, gives United something they’ve badly lacked: genuine tactical elasticity at the heart of the pitch.
“Obviously, we all know how Tielemans plays, he can play as a six, an eight or a ten,” he explained. “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.”
That’s not a throwaway line. It’s a verdict on an entire market of midfield reshuffles – and Mikel is putting the Belgian at the top of the pile.
Alderweireld: The Risk-Taker United Have Been Missing
Mikel isn’t alone. Another seasoned voice from Belgian football circles, former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld, sees Tielemans as exactly the kind of midfielder United have been crying out for – not because of the numbers on a stat sheet, but because of what he dares to do with the ball.
In an interview with Hajper, Alderweireld cut straight into the modern obsession with data.
“The problem with modern football is that sometimes we look too much at stats like assists and goals,” he 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’ real value lies in the stuff that doesn’t always make the highlight reels.
“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 explained. “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 single trait – the instinct to punch passes through pressure rather than recycle them safely – has often been missing at Old Trafford in recent years. United have had workers, holders, runners. What they’ve lacked is a midfielder who constantly looks to hurt teams with the ball at his feet.
Built for Old Trafford Pressure
Alderweireld went further, pointing to Tielemans’ mentality as a key reason he believes the Belgian can shoulder the demands of playing at Old Trafford.
“Even when he’s playing in a deep role, he’s playing it in an attacking way. He’s thinking about going forwards, always,” he said. “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.”
That phrase – “the big pressure of the shirt” – is no throwaway cliché. United’s midfield has too often shrunk in the most demanding moments. Tielemans, Alderweireld insists, won’t hide.
“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 added. “He will take the responsibility to take Manchester United forward.”
Between Mikel’s disbelief at the price and Alderweireld’s breakdown of his influence, a clear picture emerges: United haven’t just signed another technically neat midfielder. They’ve brought in a risk-taker, a connector, a set-piece threat, and a player willing to carry the weight of a club demanding to be dragged back to the top.
If £35m really is a “f*cking steal,” the only question now is how quickly Tielemans can turn that bargain into something far more valuable on the pitch.
