Ben Foster names his Premier League ‘signing of the summer’

Ben Foster has picked out Youri Tielemans as the ‘signing of the summer’ so far in the Premier League – but believes Manchester United still need a ‘big boy striker’ to become definite title challengers.

Central midfield was identified as United’s main area of focus heading into the summer transfer window, with the club successfully overhauling their misfiring attack in a £200million spending spree 12 months ago.

A host of high-profile names have been linked to Old Trafford in recent months, including the likes of Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes.

But Anderson would go on to complete a club-record £116m move to bitter rivals Manchester City, while Tonali and Fernandes snubbed interest from the Red Devils to join Tottenham instead for a combined fee of around £185m.

There was some surprise as United honed in on Andrey Santos in their search for a midfielder, working quickly to wrap up a £48m deal with Chelsea for the 22-year-old Brazil international.

Just 24 hours later, it was officially announced that Tielemans had followed Santos through the doors at the Theatre of Dreams, with United deciding to trigger the Belgian’s £35m release clause at Aston Villa.

‘I still think Youri Tielemans is the signing so far. What a bit of business,’ ex-United and England goalkeeper Foster said of the move on talkSPORT.

‘I’ve watched a load of transfers happen, Tottenham spending a lot of money, Arsenal have just spent a lot of money, but I still think Youri Tielemans is the signing of the summer so far.

‘For £30m (£35m), whatever it was, he is a ready-made, good-to-go, starting XI player and if you can spend that money on a ready-to-go starter then it’s worth every single penny.

‘I still think they need that one focal point striker, that one big boy striker. The problem is, where are you going to get it from? And it’s going to cost you £100m, it’s the way it goes nowadays.’

Foster was encouraged by Benjamin Sesko’s form last season and believes the 23-year-old striker has the raw ingredients to be the focal point of Michael Carrick’s attack in the future.

‘Sesko looks like he’s got the raw elements of it,’ he said of the Slovenia international.

‘It’s whether he can polish those raw parts up a little bit more.’

Foster hopes United are able to carry their end-of-season resurgence under Carrick into the new campaign, starting away to newly promoted Hull City on August 22.

‘They’ve got a definite chance [to challenge for the title] if they can add one big boy up top,’ he added.

‘Kobbie Mainoo has got a point to prove this season, their defence is kind of settled, they’ve got a really strong attack apart from that main focal guy, Youri Tielemans coming in as well, and Andrey Santos.

‘If they can carry on from last season that’s a big thing, you always like to finish the season well because you carry that on, the standards have already been set from what Michael Carrick put in place last season.

‘I’d like to think they can carry that into the new season.’

In addition to a proven centre-forward, Foster feels Carrick may still require a quality centre-back and ‘big’ central midfielder to replace Casemiro if they are to close the gap on the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.

He went on: ‘They need a striker, maybe a big centre-back. Matthijs de Ligt is obviously out and there’s a bit of mystery with what he’s got…

‘They could do with another big centre-back, another big midfielder, somebody that can get forward and score goals, like what Casemiro used to do with his head, and then a big striker.’

Speaking ahead of this evening’s pre-season clash with Leeds, Tielemans revealed that he had twice held talks with United on two previous occasions prior his move this summer.

‘There have been two times that I spoke with the club, but it did not achieve anything, so I was just very calm about it,’ he explained.

‘It was not Anderlecht, it was way after. I did not speak with [Ole Gunnar Solskjaer], no.’

Tielemans was made aware of United’s possible interest during the World Cup campaign, leaving his agent to deal with business while he remained ‘focussed’ on captaining Belgium.

‘It was mainly my agent that was dealing with it,’ he added.

‘I was more focused on the World Cup, which was a big thing for me. 

‘So I left it all to him and then when it was time and when it was accepted and acceptable, I would say, then I was made aware.

‘I am very calm about it. When a move comes up, then if it needs to happen, it will happen. 

‘At the times that I have been linked with the club before, it did not happen, but it is what it is. 

‘I just keep working, keep doing my thing on the pitch and then it happens.’

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