Aston Villa land Youri Tielemans after he leaves Leicester on free transfer

Aston Villa have announced the signing of Youri Tielemans on a free transfer. The Belgium midfielder’s contract at Leicester expires at the end of this month and he will officially join Villa on 1 July.

Tielemans has agreed a four-year deal and is making the move after Villa’s manager, Unai Emery, called him in recent days to accelerate talks. The 26-year-old has been at Leicester since January 2019, initially on loan from Monaco.

He is one of seven players leaving Leicester at the end of their contracts after relegation from the Premier League, along with Caglar Soyuncu, Daniel Amartey, Nampalys Mendy, Ryan Bertrand, Ayoze Pérez and Tetê.

Leicester’s James Maddison and Harvey Barnes are being pursued by a number of Premier League clubs. Tottenham are battling with Newcastle to sign Maddison and negotiations are due to take place soon. Those clubs are also interested in Barnes but face competition from Villa and West Ham.