Youri Tielemans to Man Utd: Belgium midfielder from Aston Villa brings passing class and much more for Michael Carrick

Youri Tielemans has already made his mark on English football having scored one of the great FA Cup winning goals for Leicester City. His volley set Aston Villa on their way to European glory in May too. Maybe the best is still to come for him at Manchester United.

Summer transfer windows are the stuff of wonderkids and fantasy buys, rumours to fuel the imagination. At 29 years old, with 244 Premier League appearances to his name, Tielemans is not in that category. But this is a smart signing. A triumph of common sense.

The frustration for some United fans might be that this deal was not done three years ago when Tielemans was available on a free transfer. But he is a better player now, boasting a rare robustness, having played at least 35 club games in each of the last 13 seasons.

United will be feeling buoyed by the relative success of their moves for Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo last summer. Buying Premier League proven products is a less risky way of clambering back to the top table than many of those Hail Mary acquisitions from abroad.

Not that Tielemans, a sensible and solid buy at £35m, should be seen as boring. He has been a class act for Villa and brings the progressive passing from deep that Michael Carrick sees as essential now that Bruno Fernandes has been restored to an advanced role.

With the help of Genius Sports, which blends tracking data with event data, we can identify which midfielders play the most passes bypassing, say, four opponents. Over the past two seasons, Fernandes, Elliot Anderson and Tielemans are the top three.