Tottenham on alert as Youri Tielemans set to leave Anderlecht this summer

There’s potentially some transfer news that’s of interest to Tottenham fans, but it’s a summer story, not a January story. Dutch paper Het Nieuwsblad is reporting that midfielder Youri Tielemans is almost certain to leave Anderlecht this summer, and Spurs may revive their interest in him.

Tielemans, 19, is having a great season for Anderlecht so far, scoring 13 goals and dishing out 8 assists in all competitions, playing mostly as a central midfielder. He’s considered one of the hottest young talents in Europe right now, and he has the added bonus of being Belgian, which means that if Spurs sign him Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, and Mousa Dembele will finally have their fourth player for Settlers of Catan games.

Anderlecht’s sporting director, Herman van Holsbeeck, seems to be amazed that the club has been able to keep ahold of him as long as they have.

"As Youri plays football, he arouses a lot of interest. Actually, it's already extraordinary that we can enjoy three seasons of such talent. That in itself is a compliment for our youth, but as a Belgian club you know you will lose some promising players eventualy. Tielemans is on all lists of most promising young players in Europe and soon he can once more show in Europe [in the Europa League] against Zenit.

He’s gone from a boy who played football for the fun to a man with a lot of responsibility. His maturity is impressive and soon he’ll be a father, too. We know he is followed by big clubs."

You may recall that Tielemans has been nominally linked with Spurs going all the way back to last spring. Tottenham were one of a number of clubs that sent scouts to watch him play in a Europa League match against Shakhtar. Fast and creative, Tielemans is a technically proficient passing midfielder, who knows where the back of the net is. He’s also got a cracking long-range shot. His movement and ability to pick out good pass reminds me quite a bit of Dele, actually.

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It’s important to note here that this article doesn’t say that there’s any concrete interest from Spurs at this time, only that they’re one of a few teams listed who can afford his suggested transfer fee of €22m.

Nevertheless, his list of suitors is long, and includes Inter Milan, Manchester United, Arsenal, Juventus, and Atletico Madrid. If they can qualify for Champions League again this season that might put Spurs higher up the list as a possible candidate, but again, it’s way too early to call this anything but a gosh wouldn’t it be great if... kind of rumor.

Then again, it certainly sounds like Tielemans is going to be heading SOMEWHERE this summer. Why not Tottenham?