Monaco summer signing Youri Tielemans says he didn’t give any thought to joining Arsenal because the Gunners already have so many top class players.

Tielemans has been considered one of the top European prospects for a few years now, after making his breakthrough into the Anderlecht team in the 2013/14 season. This summer, it was expected that he’d move on  and ended up going to AS Monaco.

The 20-year-old apparently had Arsenal in his thoughts, but ended up deciding against joining the Gunners, saying: “I knew not much was going to change with Arsenal’s squad,” reports the Daily Star.

“Their management wanted to keep the same group of players together in order to finish high in the Premier League. I had to be honest with myself and take a look at the midfielders Arsenal have got. They are top-class players.

“I knew that I would not get many first-team chances with them, so I didn’t give any more thought to joining them. I never said no to any club. But I made it clear where I wanted to go.”

So far, Tielemans has had a positive start to his career with Monaco. Every league game he has appeared in has been a win for the French side, since their only loss came when he wasn’t involved.

Meanwhile, although the team only drew 1-1 in their first Champions League match against RB Leipzig, Tielemans did himself no harm that day either, scoring Monaco’s only goal. Even in the Trophée Des Champions 2-1 loss to PSG, Tielemans assisted Monaco’s only goal.

Although his minutes have still been limited, it seems to me that the Belgian will soon be a starter for Monaco, something unlikely at Arsenal, so ultimately I think the midfielder probably made the right choice for this stage of his career.