Youri Tielemans has revealed he turned down the chance to join Arsenal this summer in favour of a move to Monaco.
The Belgium international completed a £21.6m move from Anderlecht to Monaco at the end of May having been linked with a number of clubs around Europe.
Tielemans is regarded as one of the brightest young players in Europe and has revealed he even opted against joining Arsenal to join Ligue 1 winners Monaco.
“I knew not much was going to change with Arsenal’s squad,” the London Evening Standard quote Tielemans as saying. “Their management wanted to keep the same group of players together in order to finish high in the Premier League.
“I had to be honest with myself and take a look at the midfielders Arsenal have got. They are top-class players. I knew that I would not get many first-team chances with them, so I didn’t give any more thought to joining them.
“I never said no to any club. But I made it clear where I wanted to go.”
Tielemans has endured a slow start to life at Monaco, struggling to usurp Fabinho and Joao Moutinho in the starting XI.
The 20-year-old has only started one of Monaco’s opening seven league games, although did manage to make the most of his chance against Leipzig in the Champions League by scoring on his full debut.
