3 possible Eden Hazard swap deals for Real Madrid

Aurélien Tchouaméni

Real Madrid has a nice young core of midfielders on hand with Camavinga, Valverde, Arribas, Blanco, and Ceballos, but as it always goes in Madrid, you can never have too much of a good thing. When it comes to being the anchor to the midfield, Casemiro is it.

At 29, the Brazilian has already accomplished a lot with Los Blancos (fourteen major trophies at Madrid) and although he has not shown any signs of slowing down any time soon, Real Madrid will surely look to find a young and talented midfielder who can one become the anchor that Casemiro has become at Madrid.

Some may feel that Camavinga, Fede, or Blanco could possibly fit this mold one day, and they could, but there have been too many links to potential replacements in the midfield to suggest that Real Madrid is done with looking at the next big midfield target.

In fact, if you’re going by recent reports, Aurélien Tchouaméni is the player Real Madrid fancy the most to become their next midfield signing.

The young Frenchman, 22, has been a phenomenon since joining AS Monaco from Bordeaux.  He’s a proper box-to-box midfielder that oozes potential (3 team of the week nods this year).

Controlling any third of the field he monitors, Tchouameni excels with aerial duels, tackling, passing, and positioning.

Like Casemiro, his season goals and assist tally won’t wow you, but in their positions, that’s not what’s needed to make an impact in-game or in the Madrid midfield.

In 21 games this season, the Frenchman has completed 87% of his passes (93% own half, 82% opponents’), 2.7 interceptions per game, 2.9 tackles per game, 0.5 possession won,  0.8 dribbled past per game, 0.8 clearances per game, 0 errors led to a shot or goal, and 0 penalties committed. Numbers don’t lie, and Tchouameni’s certainly shows that.

For a young midfielder, he’s very tidy on the ball with his short passing and secure enough on the ball to maneuver out of traffic without getting knocked off the ball or losing possession ( 76% successful dribbles completed, only lost possession 10.3 times).

If you watched him on the ball defensively then you know he’s a great tackler (both standing and sliding) and isn’t afraid to get dirty to win possession ( 66% total duels won: ground duels won 64%, aerial won 72%). He times his tackles perfectly, showing he can either chase players down in transition or position himself to take them head-on.

When putting these numbers side by side with Casemiro’s, they are nearly identical in every category (offensively and defensively), further showing why Madrid is so hot on his trail this summer.

Why and How This Could Work

This could benefit all parties because, as mentioned earlier, Madrid always wants to buy for their future and buy the best talents around regardless of depth.

Casemiro, like Modric and Kroos, is slowly headed to the more senior part of his career and Tchouameni would be able to fulfill a large whole that the Brazilian would leave.

This would work for Hazard too because he’s had experience playing in France and would not have as much pressure on him at Moncao, while also being able to play someone like Ben Yedder on the wings is a tantalizing prospect.

Like the deal with Wirtz, it’s hard to see Monaco covering all of Hazard’s wages and so if this business was to get done, Madrid would likely have to stump up €45 mil euros to complete the Frenchman’s transfer, then loaning out Hazard for 2 seasons (wages covered) to complete this deal with AS Monaco.

Estimated Value: €50 mil euros

Potential swap including Hazard: 2-year loan for Hazard (wages covered) and €45 mil euros for Tchouameni

Alternatives to also look at: Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Bruno Guimarães (Lyon), Ryan Gravenberch (Ajax)