Arsenal legend Martin Keown wonders if the size of Youri Tielemans’ wages are the reason why the new Aston Villa midfielder did not join the Premier League runners-up instead.
Then again, perhaps there is a more obvious explanation.
Youri Tielemans was linked heavily with a move to Arsenal after scoring that rocket of a winner against Chelsea in the 2021 FA Cup final. But with his form nosediving since then, Goal report that a £25 million deal for the Belgium international was eventually placed on the backburner as Arsenal prioritised Gabriel Jesus, Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer.
Flash forward a further 12 months, meanwhile, and a player many Arsenal fans would have given their right arm for a couple of windows back now joins Aston Villa to relatively little complaints from the red side of North London.
“(The midfield) is undoubtedly an area of the pitch Arsenal will be strengthening,” Keown, a three-time Premier League winner with The Gunners, tells talkSPORT (12 June, 11.30am).
“They will want a player who knows the Premier League inside-out. The manager wants people who are proven.”
Aston Villa announce Youri Tielemans
That they do.
West Ham’s Declan Rice and Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, however, comfortably overtook Tielemans on Mikel Arteta’s wishlist, both going from strength-to-strength as the latter suffered relegation on the final day.
“It’s interesting that Tielemans hasn’t gone to Arsenal,” Keown adds, wondering if there was a ‘financial’ reason why his former employers opted against picking up where they left off with the former Monaco man.
“I’m pretty certain they would have been interested. Tey’ve been linked with that player for a long time. So I can only think that would have been a financial situation.
“You’d have thought that would have been attractive, with no transfer fee. But (maybe) his wage demands are too high. Maybe that’s why you see Villa now moving into that area. Paying different wages now that they wouldn’t have done in the past.
“(Tielemans) had a very disappointing season. Whether that was the transfer speculation, whether he had a fall-out with the manager… We didn’t see the best of him. But we know he’s a quality player, that’s for sure.
“I think there is going to be a lot of transfer activity for Aston Villa this summer.”
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