Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho decided to keep Aurelien Tchouameni, and it turns out he and the Royal Whites were never even thinking about replacing the Frenchman. Mourinho is a big fan of the No. 6, and though he and the club were looking at alternative defensive midfielders like Enzo Feranndez, Mateus Fernandes, and Ayyoub Bouaddi, the Royal Whites dropped their interest in these targets and decided to sign Tchouameni to a new contract extension through 2030/31.
Mourinho has affirmed a commitment to Tchouameni and believes in him as a leader, but, curiously, he has done the same to the man that Tchouameni fought at the end of the 2025/26 season, Uruguayan star Fede Valverde.
Although Valverde himself is coming off a low point, too, as Uruguay were horrible in the World Cup and even got eliminated with the midfielder getting subbed early in the final game after another putrid individual performance, Mourinho still loves him as a player believes in him as a leader, and wants to get things patched up between the two star midfielders.
Fede Valverde was not everyone's friend last season
According to a report from MARCA, via the Madrid Zone, Jose Mourinho has stated that Fede Valverde will remain his captain for the 2026/27 La Liga season despite speculation during the beef between him and Aurelien Tchouameni that he could be removed as the captain. Mourinho believes Fede is key to his sporting project going forward.
Kylian Mbappe and Tchouameni seemed to be part of a contingent of players bitter and against Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, and Fede Valverde - the core of at least one Champions League title triumph - because of what happened with Xabi Alonso, which was seen as the etiology of the fight between Tchou and Fede.
There were leaks that people in the locker room were questioning Fede as a leader, wanted him removed as a captain, and even wanted the tradition of the captaincy going to tenured players to be changed to a voting process. And many wondered if this was Mbappe causing the leaks, just like he did in PSG and for the French national team when attempting to take the captaincy for himself.
So Mbappe may not like it that Mourinho is keeping Fede on as his captain for Real Madrid, but the reality is that Mou had to make his decision. If Mourinho wants to keep the peace, get the most out of Fede, and bury the hachet with Tchouameni, he has to give both stars their due, support them fully and concretely, and help everyone move on from that awful 2025/26 season. This was the right thing to do.
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