Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has three new defenders in his back four, and now he wants a top midfielder to boost the team's profile for his first season back at the club. For him, there is no better option than Chelsea star Enzo Fernandez, especially with Mateus Fernandes now off the table and going to Tottenham Hotspur for 85 million pounds.
Los Blancos know they will have to pay much more than that for Enzo, who joined Chelsea from Benfica for 121 million euros a couple of years ago. The World Cup winner has the defensive prowess and technical quality to be a world class addition to the Real Madrid midfield, but someone has to exit to make way for him.
Eduardo Camavinga is the expendable one for Mourinho, but while the Portuguese manager seems to want Aureilen Tchouameni, Xabi Alonso and Chelsea may favor him more as a like for like replacement for the Argentinian international, who is making it publicly clear he wants the Madrid move.
Aurelien Tchouameni may block a move
According to a report from Ben Jacobs, via Madrid Xtra, Tchouameni has the same perspective as his French teammate Camavinga. Even though Real Madrid want the big upgrade in midfield, Tchou wants to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu. But Real Madrid acknowledge selling him somewhere else can help raise money for Enzo Fernandez, and Jacobs says he could go for 70 million pounds.
That is about the same price as the 80 million euros Real Madrid spent to sign him in 2022 from Monaco. The 2023/24 Champions League winner, though, like Eduardo Camavinga, has shown very little growth since than and has not been the Casemiro replacement - hence why Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid are so hoping for Enzo in the first place.
Aurelien Tchouameni's future could rest in the hands of just how badly Manchester United and maybe even Chelsea want to sign him, and while he, like Camavinga, could block a move, he is getting bigger suitors and bigger transfer fees named than the former Rennes man.
But if Tchou does block the move somewhere else, that could stop Jose Mourinho and Real Madrid from getting the bigger prize in the World Cup winner, and if that's the thing that stops the Enzo move, Tchou will be under even more pressure to perform in 2026/27, lest he feels greater wrath from Madridistas after a third failed season.
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