"Youri wants to win prizes"

INTERVIEWS Jean Kindermans, head of Anderlecht's youth academy, is pleased to see the progress of Youri Tielemans. Through the years, he has followed Youri's steps in the youth teams. He even sees a possibility that if Anderlecht becomes champions, he might stay another year. Tielemans is a player who wants to win prizes.

Kindermans says: "We are very proud of Youri. At the same time, this means that we are doing a very good job in our youth academy. It is even possible that on the next World Cup in Russia, Anderlecht have 7 (former) youth players in the Belgian national team. That's unique."

Mentality

It is very striking that Youri Tielemans, Leander Dendoncker, Vincent Kompany and Romelu Lukaku all have a great mentality. Kindermans says: "They are very focussed on their football and they don't pay much attention to the shoes they are wearing or which haircut they have."

Big example

Tielemans is an example for Anderlecht's current youth players. According to Kindermans it is now easier to convince youth players to stay. He says: "Let's hope Tielemans and Dendoncker will stay with us for one more season. If we become champions, Tielemans will still have some reasons to stay: he can play Champions League, win the Golden Boot award and play the World Cup with Belgium."