Youri Marion A. Tielemans (Flemish pronunciation: [ˈjuːri ˈtiləmɑns]; born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and captains the Belgium national team.
Tielemans began his career at Anderlecht, where he made 184 appearances and scored 35 goals across four seasons. He won the league title twice and in 2017 was chosen as the Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year. He is the youngest Belgian to play in the UEFA Champions League, making his debut in the competition at the age of 16 years and 148 days. After two years at Monaco in Ligue 1, he joined Leicester City in 2019, initially on loan and then for an estimated fee of £33 million. He played 195 total games and scored 28 goals, including the only goal of the 2021 FA Cup final. In 2023, when his contract expired, he joined Aston Villa. Tielemans made 134 appearances over three seasons at Villa, winning the UEFA Europa League in the 2025–26 season. He joined Manchester United in July 2026.
Tielemans represented Belgium at several youth levels before gaining his first cap for the senior team in November 2016, aged 19. He was part of the squad that came third at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, also featuring at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup, Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup.
Tielemans is a youth product of Anderlecht and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of 16.
On 21 July 2013, he was included in the senior squad for the first time, remaining an unused substitute in the 1–0 win over Genk in the 2013 Belgian Super Cup. On 28 July 2013, he made his first-team debut in the opening round of the Belgian Pro League season against Lokeren, replacing injured Sacha Kljestan after 25 minutes of a 2–3 home loss. This made him the fourth-youngest player in the league's history.
On 2 October 2013, he became the youngest Belgian player to play in the UEFA Champions League, starting in a match against Olympiacos at the age of 16 years and 148 days. He played 29 games – of which 21 starts – as Anderlecht won the 2013–14 Belgian Pro League, scoring to open a 3–0 win over Club Brugge at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium on 6 April 2014, a game in which he also assisted Cyriac. Tielemans won the Belgian Young Player of the Year award in each of his first two seasons.
Tielemans scored 13 times in 37 Belgian First Division A matches as Anderlecht won the 2016–17 Belgian First Division A. He won the 2017 Ebony Shoe Award for best player of African origin, and was named 2016–17 Belgian Professional Footballer of the Year. He scored five goals in 15 2016–17 UEFA Europa League matches, with his club reaching the quarter-finals, and was selected in its Squad of the Season.
On 24 May 2017, Tielemans joined 2016–17 Ligue 1 champions Monaco on a five-year deal for a fee of around €25 million. He made his competitive debut on 29 July in the Trophée des Champions at the Grand Stade de Tanger, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain and assisting Djibril Sidibé's opening goal.
On 4 August 2017, Tielemans made his Ligue 1 debut in the 3–2 home win over Toulouse, coming on as a substitute for Radamel Falcao in the 87th minute. He made his UEFA club competition debut for Monaco on 13 September in the UEFA Champions League group match away to RB Leipzig, playing the full 90 minutes and registering his first competitive goal for Monaco by equalising in a 1–1 draw. On 16 September, Tielemans made his first Ligue 1 start and played the entire match in the 3–0 home win over Strasbourg, after having played a total of 56 minutes as a substitute in his first four Ligue 1 matches.
France Football named Tielemans in their lists of the biggest flops of the first half of the season and the season overall. He scored his first Ligue 1 goal in his 31st game on 2 September 2018, in a 3–2 home loss to Marseille.
On 31 January 2019, Tielemans joined Premier League club Leicester City on loan until the end of the season, with Adrien Silva going the other way in a swap deal. On 9 March, Tielemans scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Fulham. Tielemans completed a permanent move to Leicester City on 8 July 2019, on a four-year deal for an estimated fee of £32 million. He scored in a 3–1 home win over Bournemouth on 31 August, but courted controversy with a high challenge on Callum Wilson that escaped punishment even after consultation with the video assistant referee; referees' chief Mike Riley ruled that this was an incorrect decision and Tielemans should have been sent off.
On 15 May 2021, Tielemans scored the only goal of the 2021 FA Cup Final with a long-range strike against Chelsea in the 63rd minute, sealing Leicester's first ever FA Cup title. He was named the man of the match and later won Leicester's Supporters' Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year awards.
In 2022, Tielemans was linked with a transfer to Arsenal, and there was speculation over whether he would sign a new contract. In June 2023, after Leicester's relegation from the Premier League, Tielemans announced he would be leaving the club.
On 10 June 2023, Premier League club Aston Villa announced that they had reached an agreement to sign 26-year-old Tielemans on a free transfer, upon the expiry of his Leicester City contract on 1 July. He made his debut on 12 August in the season opener, a 5–1 loss at Newcastle United, in which he replaced the injured Leon Bailey at half time.
On 26 October 2023, Tielemans scored his first goal for Aston Villa in a 4–1 away UEFA Europa Conference League victory over AZ.
At the end-of-season awards for the 2024–25 campaign, Tielemans was voted both Supporters' and Players' Player of the Season for Aston Villa. On 20 May 2026, he opened the scoring in a 3–0 victory over SC Freiburg in the Europa League final, helping his club win their first title in the competition.
On 14 July 2026, fellow Premier League club Manchester United signed Tielemans to a five-year contract after activating his £35 million release clause.
In June 2015, Tielemans was called up to the senior Belgium squad for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales. The 19-year-old finally made his senior international debut on 9 November 2016, in a 1–1 friendly away draw to rival Netherlands, replacing Steven Defour in the 82nd minute.