'I owe Villa the world, but there are clubs above them': Tielemans on choosing Man Utd, Rashford and 'smelling football'

It was third time lucky this summer in the history of Youri Tielemans and Manchester United.

The Belgian midfielder has revealed the club looked seriously at signing him twice before, in 2019 after his loan spell at Leicester, and again in 2022, when United spent too long holding out for Frenkie de Jong to decide if he was prepared to leave Barcelona.

"There had been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve anything," Tielemans told BBC Sport's Simon Stone from United's training camp in Maynooth. "I was very calm. I was not expecting much this summer, to be fair. I was just focused on my football, focused on the World Cup."

But United made their move in July, triggering a £35 million release clause while Tielemans was on World Cup duty with Belgium.

What did he say about Villa?

"I am very thankful to Aston Villa. I owe them the world. It is a great club, we did amazing things, and they have put me back to my best level. But there are clubs above Villa, and Manchester United is one of them."

He added: "It is a great achievement for any footballer to end up here. It means you have done well in your career. But it does not end there. I want to be successful."

What about his partnership with Fernandes?

Senior United officials noticed the connection developing in Gothenburg, even though Tielemans and Bruno Fernandes were only on the pitch together for 26 minutes in the 1-1 draw with PSG.

Tielemans said: "It's really natural. He is a guy that can find space easily. I just try and find him so that he can move forward."

Asked whether he can bring goals to United, having scored Leicester's 2021 FA Cup final winner and Villa's Europa League final opener against Freiburg, he beamed: "That's the aim."

What did he say about Rashford?

Tielemans played alongside Marcus Rashford during his loan at Villa and offered a strong endorsement of the forward's return to Old Trafford.

"He was great. There had been so much talk about him, bringing pressure and the media around him, but he was so good. He was very humble and hard-working, and from the first training session you could tell his touch and acceleration was just amazing. That was what we needed at the time. He did many good things and hopefully he can bring them here."

Is he fit?

Tielemans had to pull out of Belgium's World Cup quarter-final against Spain after experiencing an issue in the warm-up. He explained: "It was just an overload of too many games. We played 120 minutes against Senegal, then played the US a few days later, three days after that we played against Spain. In the warm-up, my body just switched off for some reason."

But he insisted: "I feel very good, actually. When it does not go well, I will know straight away and I will alert the manager. But it does not happen often."

What does Carrick want from him?

"He wants me to be free on the pitch, to try and organise the team the best I can. It is just smelling football, which is what I have been doing from when I was young at Anderlecht. For me, nothing changes, but it just needs to gel together."

Tielemans has made 668 appearances for club and country since making his debut at Anderlecht at 16.