Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The headline of the article may give the impression that the Belgian international is a massive fan of Formula 1 and is off to watch the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, he may well be at the end of the day that is something I can neither confirm nor deny.
But what is confirmed is that Teilemans is swapping the Belgian champions Anderlecht for that of French Champions Monaco, the midfielder who has only recently turned 20 was reportedly being courted by a number of Premier League clubs but has instead opted to move to Monaco.
The cynic in me would say that he is going for the money. I mean Premier League clubs would no doubt pay handsomely but there is one all important factor in all this, that of course being the fact that Monaco is a tax haven and therefore Teilemans will take home every euro of his new salary.
That is the cynical view but the more pragmatic one is that the exciting young Belgian is joining a very exciting and even more talented squad of players. Leonardo Jardim’s youthful side ended the reign of PSG as Ligue 1 top dogs and also got as far as the Champions League Semi Final this season.
The hard work for Monaco will be to try and keep hold of this rich crop of players, the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Thomas Lemar have both been heavily courted and it will came as no surprise if they do depart from the newly crowned French champions this Summer.
Whether Tielemans is either a replacement or an addition to this squad brimming with talent remains to be seen but Monaco will be delighted that they have managed to acquire the services of the player who broke on to the national scene with Belgium last year and has 3 senior caps to his name.
He scored 13 goals in the Belgian First Division as Anderlecht cruised to another Belgian title while he also scored 5 times in the Europa League as Anderlecht made it to the Quarter Finals when they were knocked out by eventual winners Manchester United.
Tielemans has joined Monaco on a 5 year deal and the player said when unveiled in a press conference:
“Monaco is a club with an ambitious project, recognised on the European stage, and which relies on young players,”
“I am very happy to be here. I will now do everything possible to progress here and repay the confidence the club have shown in me.”
