Aurelien Tchouameni rose through the youth ranks at Bordeaux and moved to AS Monaco in 2020 for a reported fee of €18 million. Fast forward two years, and Monaco have just sold him to Real Madrid for €80m. Obviously a fantastic piece of business.
An extremely talented defensive midfielder, Tchouameni shone brightly as Monaco thrashed Paris Saint-Germain by 3-0 at the Stade Loius II. It was a match where his considerable skill to read the game and thwart the opposition from moving forward came to full light, while faced with the organizational skills and creativity of players like Lionel Messi and Neymar.
Naturally, such a performance sparked interest from the Ligue 1 champions, and there were reportedly other clubs keeping tabs on the developments around his future too. However, as revealed by the player himself while speaking to French outlet Telefoot, he was only interested in one potential destination.
“I didn’t think too much about PSG,” he said.
“It’s also a big European club, but I had no doubts, I only wanted Real Madrid.”
The 22-year-old also reflected on the huge transfer fee the La Liga and Champions League title holders had to pay to secure his signature. He pointed out that he wasn’t the one who set that amount as the price, and that for him, the situation would have been the same even if he wasn’t that expensive – he would still be expected to perform at the highest level at Real Madrid.
Having replaced Casemiro in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad, it seemed as if Tchouameni had big shoes to fill, but so far, he’s done very well. Ancelotti himself has praised the immediate impact of the youngster who has so far played eight competitive matches for his new club, nailing two assists on the board from his position ahead of the back line.
