Youri Tielemans

[PeterWithesShin]

Tielemans was worth a lot more than the £0 transfer fee we paid so swings and roundabounds.

[Dogtanian]

To be honest with you, he's exactly the sort of player Man U have been signing the last ten years. I can fully see him being absorbed into their belly and doing the sum total of fuck all.

[brontebilly]

the money is good , but fucking hell !

Money is awful for proven player at his level

He is 29 high wages and 2 years left I am trying to be positive but this is hard

Very hard, missed a lot of football last season and another injury at the world cup so might be a factor. Critical player in how we play through the lines. Maybe these are the hard decisions we need to make to rebuild the team. Real pity Luiz didn't work as he at his best filled that role for us.

[LeeS]

Let's face it, Youri didn't want to sign an extension to his contract, it's been sitting on the table for months and we get played. He did the same at Leicester which is why we managed to get him to begin with. As sickening as it is, especially with those plastic twats, it really shouldn't come as a big surprise.

What is a surprise is having a ridiculously low value clause in his contract. That's something the club have known about since we signed him and have had plenty of time to address the issue.

The only way to have addressed the issue would have been with a new contract. As you say, that has been on the table for a while.

[Keeno]

He's played 60 thousand minutes of club football - started at Anderlecht at 15, and has played more football at 29 than Paul Scholes had played when he retired at 38.

We've got 3 fantastic seasons out of his prime, but with 2 years on his deal now is the time to sell, as painful as it will be to see him go.

Leaves a club legend and that volley will stay with me forever.

Not at £35m it's not.

But if the £35m clause was the requirement to persuade him to sign for us on a free transfer, then it's better than not having signed him at all.

To be honest, assuming it's been there all along I'm a bit surprised that nobody jumped on it last summer.

Absolutely. A clause that low was probably a precondition of him signing on a free in the first place. It's pure profit and it's big wages off the books, with Manzambi playing in that number 8 role as his replacement long-term.

We've got 3 brilliant seasons out of him and a smart club definitely should sell at this point. The only thing that annoys me is the fact he'll be there - wish he'd gone abroad.

We all knew this 'lowering the average age' rebuild had to come at some point. It's happening.

[Behind Bluenose Lines]

Gutted.

Pity he's going there!

[Brazilian Villain]

Sigh....We'll always have Istanbul.

[Vegas]

Disappointing, not a tragedy. Need to lower average age and wage bill. He’s played a lot of football including this summer, and is 30 by end of next season. Not there, though.

[Dante Lavelli]

I find it pretty staggering that no one has attempted to trigger such a ludicrously low asking price for Tielemans in the last 3 years.

No way that release clause has been kept a secret from big clubs

Likely the clause reduced each summer as he got older and the contract duration reduced. In most circumstances £35m for a 29 year old is quite high.

[Dogtanian]

Sigh....We'll always have Istanbul.

Yep, he's learned his lesson from his Leicester days. Leave on a high after the cup win!

[SaddVillan]

He had calf and ankle injuries last season and was out for 112 days.

He's now sustained a hamstring problem at the World Cup.

That's 2 soft tissue problems.

Although he turned  29, at the end of May,he's already played 579 club games in Belgium, France and the Prem, as well as winning 90 caps

Is the tank beginning to run  dry and has he started to wear out?

[Dogtanian]

Everyone said those things when we signed him.

[TaxDodger]

There might be a lot of pressure on Manzambi to hit the ground running.

[eamonn]

It's 35m profit. Not bad for a 29 year old that I reckon will decline sharply in the next 2 years.

He hardly relies on pace.  No reason whatsoever to expect him to decline in the next 2 years.

And yet I do expect him to.

But why?

[kippaxvilla2]

As long as we are not going down the young and hungry route.  Look where that got us.