Manchester United have been linked to AS Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans according to reports from Belgian news outlet Nieuwsblad. It has been stated that after the suspension and sacking of Thierry Henry and the reappointment of Leonardo Jardim, the 21-year-old Belgian midfielder can leave the club. Tielemans was seeking a move from the club when Jardim was still the manager but Henry’s appointment led to a change of decision.

Now that Jardim is back with the club, it will leave Tielemans on the sidelines again which will only bring about talk of the player leaving the club once again. It has been reported by Nieuwsblad that AC Milan, United, and Barcelona have all held some interest in the player, which had been suggested by the Daily Mail. This makes me wonder if the Belgian source has reported on the supposed interest reported by the Mail, or whether they have their own information on the reported interest.

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Tielemans is also a target for Leicester City, which seems more logical with a €23 million fee reported. It makes me wonder if the media in the United Kingdom, and that of the rest of Europe, just make rumours up based on nothing other than directing attention to their outlet, which seems to be riddled with advertising which in turn will add lots of money to their coffers. We have seen this during every transfer window – making stuff up equals lots of traffic which equates to lots of money.

Whilst United were credited with an interest in Tielemans over the past few years, a move was never made for the player. Why would they make a move now? There is a suggestion that Marouane Fellaini could leave the Old Trafford club during this window, or at least the one in China which ends on the 28 February 2019 but that does not mean that United will be seeking to replace him, especially with a player that lacks any experience of the Premier League.

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If Fellaini leaves the club at this stage of the season, caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be left with Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba, Fred, Scott McTominay, and Andreas Pereira in the more experienced player’s central midfield position. Solskjaer will also have the likes of James Garner and even Matty Willock to call upon from the Academy if Willock is not loaned out against by Thursday’s deadline.

All of this seems to suggest the rumour is nothing but hearsay created to cause an attraction, rather than to relay actual facts linking a player to United. Some media outlets report that Tottenham Hotspur was interested in Tielemans, however, the headlines suggest that he is a player hotly linked to Leicester City, which is the most likely destination for the player, based on the clarity of the reporting by different sources. Perhaps if Leicester signs him, there will be a scathing article suggesting United missed out, again!