Real Madrid fans have always been quite protective of Aurelien Tchouameni since he joined the club from Monaco in 2022 to replace Casemiro. That is not to say he has been exempt from criticism, but the player is often judged on the type of player he can be instead of the player he is right now, which is simply not right.
Tchouameni, in reality, has not impressed nearly as much as people have wanted him to during his time at the club. There have been so many instances of him simply regressing as a football player - either that, or he just does not do anything consistently enough.
There have obviously been moments when he has been really good for the club - and of course, his floor, in general, is solid. He may not have the highest of highs, but he definitely does not have the lowest of lows like Eduardo Camavinga.
Still, Real Madrid paid just 25 million euros for Camavinga. For Tchouameni, it was 80 million euros, and a lot has been expected from the player who was supposed to replace Casemiro, while also help dictate the tempo at Real Madrid.
Aurelien Tchouameni is not performing the way Real Madrid need him to
Tchouameni has done it a bunch of times for France, but when he plays for his club, it just seems like he is not doing enough. At many points, the Frenchman simply does not move enough to make himself available for his teammates. His passes are too safe and he generally does not look like he demands the ball.
On the defensive side of the pitch, there are some great performances from Tchouameni, but there have also been some truly bad ones. There are times where he simply does not have that intensity you need at the top level, and he also shows quite a few of his limitations defensively.
Let's look at his time at Real Madrid. Tchouameni started his time at the club quite well, he was defensively solid and provided just enough on the ball, and looked really good.
After the World Cup, his level dropped, and so did his minutes. The Frenchman did not look like the player Real Madrid signed for 80 million euros. He played a lot of the 2023-24 season as a centre-back, and was excellent. However, there were some mixed performances when he was playing as a pivot, too.
The 2024-25 season was also not good enough, and Tchouameni looked to have suffered a lot because he no longer had Toni Kroos alongside him to help him with the build-up play. This was the time when he had to learn how to do that consistently, but nothing happened.
Tchouameni started his time under Xabi Alonso really well, before regressing under Alvaro Arbeloa, and now does not look match fit or good enough to be on the pitch for Jose Mourinho, and yet, somehow, he is playing every minute since coming back to the team - even when there are other players on the bench playing better than him.
Hopefully, Tchouameni is able to sort this one out, because if he does not, Real Madrid might actually start listening to offers for the midfielder.
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