Scouting Notebook: Youri Tielemans Finally Realising His Sky-High Potential

Finally, after three years of promising so much, Youri Tielemans is starting to deliver on his sky-high potential.

He made his debut as a 16-year-old and became the youngest Belgian ever to play in the UEFA Champions League, sparking widespread discussion over how high his ceiling is. He did stall a little during his 18th year, perhaps under the weight of heavy expectation, but is now starting to blossom again and has regularly made waves on social media this season thanks to his goalscoring exploits.

Despite still being a teenager, Transfermarkt have clocked Tielemans at 170 appearances for Anderlecht already. Add his two Belgium caps and multitude of Belgium youth showings to that, and it transpires that his appearance against Genk last weekend was his 200th in all senior competitions. That's Wayne Rooney or Romelu Lukaku levels of teenage football.

Tielemans' game has undergone borderline-surgical changes since debuting in the 2013-14 season against Lokeren. Naturally, over the course of three years, he'll have learned plenty during his transition from fresh-faced kid to battle-hardened pro, but what he offers on the pitch is now different, too.

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Early on, it was clear Tielemans had the poise, the vision, the confidence and the awareness to be a future midfield general. His sense of positioning was strong, and he looked technically proficient, stepping straight in, taking the ball in tight areas and using it smartly. At no point was he overawed, and at no point did he shrink in the face of more prestigious opposition—even when tasked with starting against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium aged 17.

But to take things to the next level, production in the form of goals and assists would have to be added to his game. He's not a Daniele De Rossi-style cruncher, so he can't fall back on defensive output, and he's never quite been a metronomic, Marco Verratti-style regista who dictates from deep but doesn't trouble the final third. Being pretty and tidy on the ball is fine, but to reach the upper echelons of the game in his role, you need to make the difference yourself.

He's now doing that. Thus far, Tielemans has 17 goals and 10 assists from 38 appearances this season. That's one hell of a jump from last term, in which he managed seven and four from 45. It's the step he needed to take to affirm himself as a top-tier prospect and alert Europe's finest teams to his readiness for the next chapter.

He does take Anderlecht's penalties (and does so well), so while his goalscoring numbers from midfield are excellent, they have been padded from the spot a little. Then again, so were those of Frank Lampard.

Season	Appearances	Goals	Assists
2013-14	35	2	6
2014-15	52	8	6
2015-16	45	7	4
2016-17*	38	17	10

One of the catalysts for his increased production has been the emergence of Leander Dendoncker alongside him as a No. 6. The more they've played together, the more the cadence of Anderlecht's game has centred on the midfield pivot. The two complement each other and work extremely well together; their movements and tendencies dictate how the team use the ball.

Typically, you'd pair Tielemans with a destroyer of a midfielder, taking the tackling burden off him and allowing him to surge forward. But with Anderlecht a consistent title challenger and clearly one of the strongest teams in the Jupiler League every year, manager Rene Weiler has sought to overpower and outgun teams using two creative midfielders behind a naturally creative No. 10.

Dendoncker's long-range passing is brilliant, and many of Anderlecht's attacks begin with him receiving possession from a centre-back, turning and firing a long, raking cross-field ball to a full-back or winger high up on the flanks. As Dendoncker pulls the trigger back, Tielemans begins trotting forward, hunting for space to utilise as the opponents shift back into a defensive formation.

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It's from these areas, 30 yards or so from goal, that he's become an absolute predator. He's produced a littany of glorious strikes from outside the box this season, and it's for this reason he's become something of a Twitter sensation. The fact that he's capable of netting from these distances with either foot just makes what he's doing so much more impressive, and he's often preying on loose balls that fall into his path due to the chaos Dendoncker's switches cause.

That dual-footedness gives him an extra edge no matter where he is on the field. It means players can't show him on to his weaker side because he doesn't necessarily have one (his right foot is stronger, but the drop-off is significantly less than 99 percent of footballers), and it's also led to him occasionally filling in at left-back in the club's time of need.

He puts those feet to good use in the passing game, too, often threading neat passes into good areas and playing forwards in. But it's also notable he's shooting more and more in games; his confidence in his own ability to beat the 'keeper from range has seen his focus shift from creativity to goalscoring.

Outside of perhaps striker Lukasz Teodorczyk's consistent brilliance, the rise of Tielemans has been the story of the Purple & Whites' season. He and Dendoncker form such a brilliant pairing, and their combination of creativity and ruthless finishing is pushing the club forward—literally.

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Both will inevitably secure large moves, perhaps as early as this summer, though Tielemans will likely go first given the buzz around him. The Express reported in December that as many as six top clubs—Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Bayern Munich—are all interested in his services, and former Anderlecht player Paul Van Himst has admitted he's likely to go this year, per Sporza (h/t TalkSport).

One thing to note: Tielemans has played 200 games for club and country—a ridiculous number for a 19-year-old. That's both a blessing and a curse, as while he is overdeveloped for his age as a result, it might also mean he peaks earlier (say, 23) and declines faster (say, 29). 

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