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Belgium boss Domenico Tedesco has been warned not to treat the team like a charity, after including Aston Villa’s Youri Tielemans in his latest squad.

Former Red Devil Eddy Snelders has been talking about the current selection, with Tedesco including the Aston Villa man in his squad for the next international squad, much to the surprise of some.

Tielemans has struggled to feature for Villa this season after arriving on a free transfer from Leicester City in the summer.

The Villans continued success under Unai Emery and the performances of their current midfield set up mean there has been little place for him, restricting the Belgian to feature from the bench and in the cup competitions.

It means he was partly expected to be left out of the latest Belgium squad, particularly with fans keen to see youngsters such as Arthur Vermeeren.

That didn’t prove to be the case, though, with the Aston Villa man included in the group and Vermeeren left with the Young Devils to continue his development there.

It’s a decision that’s already seen Tedesco questioned and Snelders is one of those who is unimpressed, believing Tielemans is lucky to be called up.

“I thought it was surprising that Vermeeren was not there in September, but now Tedesco can no longer ignore him,” he said.

“As a coach you have to be correct. You should not protect players; you should select the players who perform best.

“Tielemans is certainly not one of them at the moment. His good international matches in recent years can also be counted on one hand. It’s a shame for him because he’s a good boy, but the national team is not a charity.”