Youri Tielemans makes Man United admission after summer move to Old Trafford

Manchester United midfielder Youri Tielemans has said that he was not expecting to leave Aston Villa during this summer's transfer window.

Tielemans, 29, made the move to Man United from Villa in the middle of July, and he debuted for the 20-time English champions in their pre-season friendly with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.

The midfielder is also in line to feature against Leeds United on Wednesday evening in what will be Man United's penultimate pre-season contest.

Tielemans has spoken about previous transfer talks with Man United, while he admitted that a transfer away from Villa this summer came as somewhat of a surprise.

"There has been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve anything so I was just very calm about it," Tielemans told Sky Sports News.

Tielemans "was not expecting" summer transfer

"It was mainly my agent that was dealing with it, I was more so focused on the World Cup which was a big thing for me. When it was time that it was accepted and acceptable, I would say then I was made aware.

"I was not expecting much [a summer move], to be fair. I was just focused on my football, focused on the World Cup, trying to perform as best as I could for my country. Then every summer something can happen."

Tielemans represented Villa between 2023 and 2026, scoring 10 goals and registering 25 assists in 134 appearances for the club in all competitions.

Tielemans addresses injury at 2026 World Cup

The midfielder has also addressed the injury that he suffered at the 2026 World Cup, having been unable to feature against Spain in the quarter-finals.

"It was just an overload of too many games, too many minutes and unfortunately my body could not cope with it anymore," Tielemans added.

"We played 120 minutes against Senegal and from there, we had less time in between games. We played the USA three or four days later, then three days after that, we played against Spain. In the warm-up, my body switched off for some reason."

Tielemans penned a five-year contract at Man United upon his arrival, and his competitive debut for the club could come against Hull City in the Premier League on August 22.