Youri Tielemans was “never” going to thrive at Manchester United thanks to Bruno Fernandes.

Tielemans joined the Red Devils in a £35m move from Aston Villa in the summer but has struggled in a midfield that former United full-back Paul Parker insists isn’t equipped to cover for him.

It was claimed earlier this week that Man Utd chiefs have ‘privately admitted’ that they ‘fell short’ in the summer transfer window, and have acknowledged it was a mistake to sign Tielemans and Andrey Santos, who arrived from Chelsea for £5om.

The report added:

‘The £70m Carlos Baleba, who made his debut in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Saturday, was a long-term target but United insiders have admitted Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos were “a long way down the list”.

‘Elliot Anderson, Mateus Fernandes, Aurelien Tchouameni and Ederson were United’s preferred picks.’

Explaining why the move hasn’t worked out for Tielemans, Parker managed to point the finger of blame at his favourite scapegoat, Fernandes.

Speaking to Freebets.com, Parker said: “If you look at him in a Villa shirt and the way Villa played, it was so important to Villa. The way they played from the back and everything. He’s working with McGinn. It was good because there was great movement, high energy around the midfield when he was in possession.

“[At United] They’ve just never done it. You’re never going to get that, really, with a Bruno Fernandes in that way, because he’s not disciplined enough with and without the ball. All of a sudden, he goes and makes a goal or he makes a pass so he can chase another trophy for assists.

“They’ve even lost the strength of counter-attacks because they still haven’t got a midfield player who can go from box to box, to join in, to make a run through, to go beyond the striker.”

The bid for ‘control’

Michael Carrick deployed Tielemans in the No.10 position ahead of Baleba and Santos for the trip to Atletico Madrid, with Fernandes moved further forward.

“Yeah, we want a lot more control in the game, really,” Carrick explained. “I think in certain games we’ve been a little bit open and we want to try and change that and make a difference in that way, you know?

“We want a bit more control without the ball and we want a lot more control with it within the game.”

Most watching the game would attest that there was more control despite the 2-0 defeat. There weren’t the same gaping holes we’ve become accustomed to seeing when Bruno Fernandes plays as one of the three in midfield.

Tielemans agreed that “we had more compactness at times”, but then made a quite extraordinary 21-word admission.