Youri Tielemans claims he turned down Arsenal switch before joining Monaco

Tielemans was linked to several top sides before joining Monaco
AFP/Getty Images
James Benge25 September 2017

Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans claims he rejected the chance to move to Arsenal this summer.

Former Anderlecht playmaker Tielemans, 20, has been linked to a host of top European sides for several years after breaking into the Belgian giants’ first-team four years ago.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham have all been linked with Tielemans, who joined Monaco for around £20million this summer as a replacement for Stamford Bridge-bound Tiemoue Bakayoko.

But it was Arsenal who gave him the chance to move to the Premier League, though it didn’t take long for Tielemans to dismiss the option.

“I knew not much was going to change with Arsenal’s squad,” he said. “Their management wanted to keep the same group of players together in order to finish high in the Premier League.

“I had to be honest with myself and take a look at the midfielders Arsenal have got. They are top-class players. I knew that I would not get many first-team chances with them, so I didn't give any more thought to joining them.

“I never said no to any club. But I made it clear where I wanted to go.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in