Sought-after midfielder hints at Leicester stay: “I can be part of something great here”
On-loan Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans thinks a bright future could be in store for him at the club, after manager Brendan Rodgers hinted that he would like to sign the Belgian permanently.
The 21-year-old arrived at the King Power Stadium from Monaco in January on a deal until the end of the season but has made a good impression in the Premier League.
Rodgers admitted on Thursday that “there will be discussions between the clubs” while describing Tielemans as a “wonderful talent”.
Manchester United have also been credited with an interest in the former Anderlecht player, but the Belgium international hinted that he would prefer to extend his stay in Leicester.
"I don't know what is going to happen this summer," he tells Sky Sports.
"I feel really good here, but I have to see the other options too. That's normal, and I don't have to rush myself.
"We are now in April and we will see over the next months.
"At Leicester, I can be part of something great. They will have a new training ground, the stadium will be much better than it is now with more fans coming over.
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"So it can be something great for the future."
Tielemans also reserved praise for Rodgers, who left Celtic to replace Claude Puel on the Foxes bench in February.
"He is a really open-minded manager; you can talk to him, whatever question you may have, you can ask him," he said.
"And that's really positive for us because a lot of players were confused about what was going on.
"And everything is clear now, he wants to play offensive and attacking, but you don't have to forget about the defensive part, and everybody is doing his job and we are progressing as a team."
The youngster clarified that former Leicester boss Puel sometimes struggled to get his message across to the players.
"The barrier of the language was there, so it was a bit difficult," he explained.
"Sometimes people did not understand what the gaffer wanted - I spoke French with him, so it was easier, but now it is easy for everybody.
“The style of play we play here suits me best," he added.
"I can play free here and think about the offensive play when we have the ball, and when I don't have the ball, I try to manage the team and organise the defensive part.
"But I feel really good in this team. My team-mates help me a lot to adapt to the style and the gaffer helps me a lot too, so it's really easy."
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Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
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