Real Madrid will be buyers in the 2022 summer transfer window, marking a departure from their last two windows, in which they sold more assets than they bought. Their only non-free-agent acquisition was midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who is already paying dividends with his ball-winning, ball-carrying, and football IQ.
While Los Blancos will prioritize forward targets and understand they need defensive depth, specifically at right back, they will not stop at Camavinga when it comes to upgrading their midfield. The Holy Trinity, as some Madridistas like to call them, remains the world’s premier midfield trio, but Real want to be proactive about replacing all of them.
Fede Valverde and Camavinga will take up two of the spots, but Real are still out to find the third man. Maybe it could be Antonio Blanco, but with the Castilla player receiving so few minutes, most of the focus has shifted to a player outside of Madrid. Outside of Spain, in fact.
Before Real Madrid signed Camavinga in August, another young talent in Ligue 1 was also on Real’s midfield radar. In fact, Aurelien Tchouameni of AS Monaco had a better 2020-2021 campaign than Camavinga, breaking out into one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1.
Aurelien Tchouameni won’t come cheap, but Real Madrid can afford him
This season, Tchouameni has taken even more steps forward. So even though Real did sign Camavinga at a bargain price, the links to Tchouameni have actually heated up.
Tchouameni will not be easy to sign. We can ignore the bloated transfer figures floated around by Monaco in the press. They will accept the highest offer, and Real can call their bluff, in the same way they called Rennes’ bluff regarding Camavinga in 2020.
Camavinga had one year left on his contract and dreamed of Madrid over PSG, therefore Los Blancos were able to get a bargain. They most likely will not be so fortunate with Tchouameni, who has significant interest around Europe. PSG, once again, are involved, though they may be favoring veteran free agents Paul Pogba and Franck Kessie more. Chelsea have similar financial firepower and even more of a desire to sign a young star in midfield.
But Real Madrid have a chance. They have a wealth of young talent in midfield, but Tchouameni looks like a perfect fit for the 6. He is one of the best defensive midfielders in all of Europe, in terms of his intelligent reading of the game and uncanny ability to make every tackle.
Tchouameni’s defensive stats are already elite
Per WhoScored.com, Tchouameni is averaging 3.0 tackles and 2.6 interceptions per game in Ligue 1. He is also averaging 2.0 tackles and 2.8 interceptions per game in the Europa League. Real Madrid fans have wondered if anyone can replace Casemiro’s tackling and defensive talent, but here, at the age of 22, Tchouameni is outproducing Case and has more to offer as a ball-carrier than the beloved Brazilian.
Tchouameni is only going to get better, yet he is already a world-class defensive midfielder. Monaco will not let him go for cheap, and Chelsea will have a compelling offer. But even then, Tchouameni may be good value, when projecting what he could offer.
Real Madrid may not be desperate to sign a midfielder, per se, but if they want to secure the future at a very difficult position to obtain this kind of quality, Tchouameni is everything Los Merengues want at that position. He is young, smart, growing, elite defensively in all aspects, good at drawing fouls, and capable of dictating play with accurate passing. Tchouameni is a modern-day 6, perhaps even in ways Casemiro never has been. It’s not to already anoint him as better than Casemiro, but in the next year or two, he could very well surpass the Madrid icon.