Tielemans: No regrets staying put

Youri Tielemans is grateful for the respite the international break has provided from a "tough" start to the season at Leicester City, though he does not regret staying at the club. Leicester have managed to take just one point from seven matches in the Premier League, losing each of their past six.

Among those defeats have been respective 5-2 and 6-2 losses to Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham, with the latter result on Saturday significantly increasing the heat on under-pressure manager Brendan Rodgers. Tielemans was strongly linked with a move away from Leicester during the most recent transfer window, with the Foxes facing the prospect of losing a valuable asset for nothing when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Although no move materialised, Tielemans does not regret staying at the King Power Stadium – but the midfielder, the scorer of Leicester's winning goal against Chelsea in the 2020-21 FA Cup final, is relieved to get away from the negativity after joining up with Belgium. "I'm happy to get a bit of fresh air here [on international duty] because it's tough at Leicester right now," he said at a press conference ahead of Belgium's Nations League games against Wales and the Netherlands.

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"It's clear that things are not going well at the club. We are doing everything we can as a team. At Leicester, the consecutive defeats have affected us as a group. We need to benefit from this break to recharge our batteries. It's hard to get it off my mind as it keeps running through my head. Only my kids sometimes prevent me from thinking about it."

Arsenal were among the clubs heavily linked with Tielemans during the transfer window, and he promises to attract plenty of interest again in January if he does not sign a new contract beforehand. Nevertheless, Tielemans feels Leicester's form and his contractual situation are completely separate subjects.

"I'm not going to speak too much about my contract at the moment," he continued. "I didn't leave Leicester in the summer as I always said the project had to be the right one. Just because things are getting worse now at Leicester doesn't mean I should regret [staying at the club]."