Tielemans has endured a tough start at Manchester United after enjoying great success at Villa Park

Youri Tielemans has been wrongly branded an Aston Villa reject as his start to life at Manchester United turns toxic.

A video on social media showed supporters shouting “Villa reject” to Tielemans as he left Old Trafford on Sunday, in the wake of an embarrassing 3-0 defeat for United against Bournemouth which left the Red Devils down in 16th place in the Premier League and manager Michael Carrick clinging to his job.

Tielemans had been substituted at half-time with United trailing 2-0, but did not escape criticism from angry fans.

The truth is Tielemans was a key player for Unai Emery at Villa rather than a reject and the club would have gladly kept him this summer had United not triggered the £35m release clause in his contract at Villa Park.

The Belgian helped Villa win the Europa League and also claim two fourth-placed finishes in the Premier League and qualification for the Champions League in his three seasons with the club.

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He has endured a tough start at Old Trafford, however, and has tasted victory only twice in his first 12 matches for the club, losing six times - and the atmosphere at Old Trafford turned nasty on Sunday as United players were booed down the tunnel after the final whistle.

Tielemans had offended Villa fans back in August when he said United were “above Villa” after his transfer.

"We (Villa) achieved the Europa League win, which is great for the club but, yeah, there is still clubs above Villa, and Manchester United is one of them. Especially at this moment, there is a very positive vibe, a very positive mood in and around the club,” he said.

He quickly apologised, saying: "Never meant for my words in the press yesterday to offend anyone or undermine the institution of Aston Villa Football Club which I massively respect and I'm grateful to for the past three years.

“I must however admit my mistake and apologise for my choice of words, will be more careful in the future. wishing the club the best in the future. Youri."