Ex-Aston Villa senior scout reacts to Youri Tielemans joining Man United

Aston Villa have been left massively weakened by Youri Tielemans' sudden move to Manchester United.

That is the opinion of former senior Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.

The midfielder has signed for the Red Devils, joining on a five-year deal after they triggered his £35million release clause.

Tielemans had two years remaining on his contract at Villa, but it was expected that a new contract would be discussed in the coming months and there were few worries about his future.

But the 29-year-old's sudden exit has served as a double-blow for Unai Emery's midfield, after Amadou Onana suffered an injury to his ACL while at the World Cup.

Tielemans will likely be replaced by Johan Manzambi, who is close to joining from Freiburg in a £59m deal.

Ex-Aston Villa talentspotter blindsided by Youri Tielemans move

To say Tielemans was a crucial player for Villa would be an understatement.

In many ways, the 29-year-old was the engine of Emery's system - everything seemed to flow through him.

Of the 21 games Tielemans missed across all competitions this season, Villa won just 10 and lost eight.

Just minutes before news broke of Man United's efforts to sign the midfielder, King told Football Insider that Villa were making a big mistake letting him go.

"How long has he got with his present contract? Two years. This is the time that you want to start thinking about is he going to stay or is he going to go," he said.

"You'd be very foolish with the Champions League coming up this year and the Premier League, and all the other competitions, to get rid of a player of that quality, that is for sure."

King shares Tielemans story

Boubacar Kamara and Lamare Bogarde currently represent Villa's only fit naturally deep-lying midfielders after the losses of Tielemans and Onana.

But while replacing the former will be hard, finding another player of the new Man United's man quality will be borderline impossible.

"I saw Tielemans in La Manga in a tournament playing for Belgium when he was 16,"King told Football Insider. "He was outstanding then, I can tell you. There were many clubs putting him down on the book.

"He was in the same era as [Romelu] Lukaku and [Thibaut] Courtois and these kind of players. He's a good footballer. Very good footballer."