Real Madrid agrees to sign French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni for €80 million: Reports
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According to some sources, Real Madrid has agreed to sign Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco for €80 million, not including bonuses. Real Madrid is on the hunt for an eventual successor to Casemiro when his time is up. Casemiro is not old by any means (he is just 30), but Madrid still needs to plan for the future, and signing a player like Tchouameni would put that need to bed for good.
Tchouameni can act as a sole pivot really, really well. His defensive awareness is great, he makes the right gambles, his positioning is generally decent, and he can play the role Real Madrid has wanted their CDM to play ever since Xabi Alonso left the club in 2014. Kroos has, to an extent, done that, but he doesn’t have the defensive abilities to do that week in, week out, nor is he that type of player, essentially.
If you add Tchouameni to the line-up when Real goes up against high-pressing teams, there is much more fluidity. You lose some of what makes Casemiro great, but you don’t lose it as much as you do when you play Camavinga or Fede there. That is not a knock on Fede or Camavinga but they aren’t really built for that role of a sole pivot.
Why is Real Madrid interested in signing Aurelien Tchouameni?
Mbappe had been Real Madrid’s main transfer target for a number of years, with everything being built with the 23-year-old’s arrival in mind.
In fact, after PSG refused to negotiate his exit last summer, Real Madrid turned their towards another Frenchman and secured a deal to sign Eduardo Camavinga for 30 million pounds from Stade Rennais in the last few days of the January transfer window to make sure Mbappe didn’t feel out of the home.
Throughout the summer of 2021, rumors about the possible interest of one or another player were stopped in their tracks in order not to jeopardize Mbappe’s desire to play for Real Madrid.
However, after failing to sign Kylian Mbappe in one of the biggest transfer stories of the past few years, Real Madrid has now started to look at strengthening other key areas of their team, including the midfield which is composed of aging but evergreen players like Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro.
If you put Tchouameni in place of Casemiro, he not only provides a lot defensively, but with the ball, you can expect him to be press resistant, and make the right decision more often than not.
Obviously, there are ways he can improve even more, but at least for now, that’ll work out just fine. Real Madrid would have one less liability on the ball if Tchouameni plays, and that’ll give the other midfielders like Camavinga, Luka Modric, and Toni Kroos to go forward and do what they are supposed to do without worrying too much about the defense.
Also Read: 5 great players who rejected Real Madrid
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Aryan Sharma
(95 Articles Published)