Real Madrid stars have been flying high at the 2026 World Cup. Kylian Mbappe, Jude Bellingham, and Vinicius Junior are all the faces of national teams that are contending to win it all, and all three of them are among the leaders to win MVP of the tournament.
But there are also players who are not big stars for Real Madrid who are having positive tournaments. Brahim Diaz has been an assist machine for Morocco, Marc Cucurella has been dominant on the left side of the Spanish defense, and Aurelien Tchouameni is the defensive shield in the French midfield.
Unfortunately, Real Madrid do now have a bit of worrisome news with one of these key players, as Tchouameni suffered an injury to his left semitendinosus muscle in his leg. France held him out of the brutal Round of 16 tie against Paraguay in favor of Manu Kone, with Didier Deschamps and the team terming his absence as more of a precaution than anything.
Aurelien Tchouameni has a thigh injury at the World Cup
But Tchouameni himself appears to be singing a different, more morose tune about his thigh injury. Via Madrid Xtra, the Real Madrid defensive midfielder told reporters while passing by them after the France 1-0 win over Paraguay that his injury is "bad".
That one word description is enough to get Real Madrid to worry. Although Real Madrid do not appear to be interested in selling Tchouameni despite rumors flying about interest from Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as a 90 million euro price tag on his head, there will still be a lot of worry about Tchouameni's health because then he would be very key to Jose Mourinho as the No. 6.
Real Madrid will have to wait for a more formal update on Tchouameni, but with the club cooling their interest in high priced Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez and World Cup breakout teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi, Aurelien Tchouameni is pretty much sealed as the continued starter at the base of the midfield under Mourinho.
Without any other player to be the 6 for Real Madrid and no concrete targets, Tchouameni could be a make or break player for Jose Mourinho and the Merengues in 2026/27 after two trophyless seasons. These muscular injuries can be very tricky, so the last thing Real Madrid need is an aggravation, a prolonged recovery, or a worse injury than the expected timeilne of just one missed match. If there is any risk of aggravation, Madridistas would rather see more of Manu Kone for Les Bleus.
Add us as a preferred source on Google