Youri Tielemans’s Potential Jersey Numbers at Man Utd

The Red Devils are acting with clever ruthlessness in this transfer window.

Youri Tielemans is set for a new home. | Nico Vereecken/Photo News/Getty Images

Manchester United have moved quickly—but seemingly out of nowhere—to reach “advanced talks” to sign Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans.

New updates in recent days had revealed the Old Trafford club’s decision to walk away from an agreed, but not completed, proposal to sign Éderson from Atalanta. There are murmurs of a medical issue fueling that decision, but the rapid switch to Tielemans and the efficiency at which it has so far been carried out at least raises the possibility of a substitution born out of ruthlessness.

Tielemans stands to come in slightly cheaper than Éderson, whose £35 million ($47 million) transfer fee was set to be additionally inflated by small add-ons. Tielemans is available for a surprisingly low-hanging £35 million because of a release clause in his Aston Villa contract.

The Belgian is two years older than Éderson but is a well-established quantity in the Premier League after just shy of 250 appearances in the division for two high-performing clubs since 2019. Before an active role in Aston Villa’s emergence as one of England’s best teams, he was central to Leicester City achieving four straight top-eight finishes. He also scored the winner in the 2021 FA Cup final.

Tielemans is an accomplished passer, ball winner and long-distance shooter. Together with the signing of Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Manchester United could end up with two new, strong midfielders for the price it cost Tottenham Hotspur to sign Mateus Fernandes alone.

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Tielemans’s Potential Shirt Numbers at Man Utd

It would be a shock if Tielemans gets his first choice. | Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC/Getty Images

There is one main number that Tielemans has a connection to, having routinely worn 8 on his back for Belgium since 2018, getting that number at Leicester in the summer of 2019 and also having it from the moment he stepped through the door at Aston Villa in 2023. The obvious problem for him now is that it belongs at Manchester United to Bruno Fernandes.

Tielemans has worn a collection of other shirt numbers during his career to date, breaking out with 31 at first club Anderlecht, then acquiring 17 upon joining Monaco. He began his Leicester career, which started in January 2019 after a winter transfer, in the 21 shirt. The player has had other jerseys for Belgium in his early international career, including 6, 16, 17, 18 and 24.

So while 8 is not available at Old Trafford, plenty of the others Tielemans has used in the past are. If the number 8 itself is of particular importance, then 18 could be a consideration following Casemiro’s departure. Fernandes had previously used that shirt before shedding the first digit in 2022.

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Available Shirt Numbers at Man Utd

Number	Last Worn by
9	Rasmus Højlund
12	Tyrell Malacia
14	Christian Eriksen
17	Alejandro Garnacho
18	Casemiro
20	Diogo Dalot
21	Antony
27	Wout Weghorst
28	Facundo Pellistri
29	Aaron Wan-Bissaka

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Shirt Numbers That Could Become Available

Even Manuel Ugarte is now unlikely to leave. | Michael Regan/Getty Images

Significant departures, beyond those already released as free agents, aren’t really expected at Manchester United this summer. This transfer window is about building depth around a strong yet small core that was able to consistently win Premier League games in the second half of last season but wasn’t being tested with the demands of playing in multiple competitions.

It was once plausible to think that Manuel Ugarte might move on, freeing up 25, until a long-term knee injury suffered at the World Cup put that on indefinite hold. Others who were fringe players last season, like Joshua Zirkzee, 11, will command significantly more game time in 2026–27 because of the increased demands, diminishing potenital desire to leave for better opportunities.

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