Real Madrid seemed to be after a new defensive midfielder through the month of June, as Mateus Fernandes, Enzo Fernandez, Rodri, Sandro Tonali, Alexis Mac Allister, and even World Cup breakout star Ayyoub Bouaddi of Morocco were all mentioned as possible signings Jose Mourinho could push for.
But instead of signing any of them, Real Madrid made a surprising decision. Not long after releasing an official statement denying any interest in Chelsea's Enzo, the Merengues signed their own starting No. 6 Aurelien Tchouameni to a contract extension despite rumors that Premier League giants Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool could be after his signature.
Tchouameni is trusted by Jose Mourinho and seen as important for the upcoming season, and while those are kind words and a way of standing by the Frenchman to give him confidence, they are also a clear challenge and a call out from the Portuguese manager to the player.
Aurelien Tchouameni has to put up
While Tchouameni is a huge talent and showed incredible promise for Monaco all the way back in the 2021/22 season that led Real Madrid to invest a whopping 80 millino euros in him as the heir to Casemiro, he has not shown a lot of growth since 2022.
Yes, he helped Real Madrid win the Champions League in 2024 and has been a mainstay in the starting lineup for the French national team, but he has not been a critical player for either top side. And despite his prodigious talent and great attitude, he has not been able to show real fire, intensity, or quality to control games or change them at the top level, suffering badly without Toni Kroos to the left of him in the Real Madrid midfield.
By extending Aurelien Tchouameni and handing him the keys for the next four years, Real Madrid are also calling him out. They are saying: Look, you are our guy now. There is no other alternative. We need you. We need you to be elite and help us win titles, and whlie we know you are capable, we need to see it. We need you to step up and prove that you are the best in the world at what you do.
If Jose Mourinho and extract that out of Tchouameni and if Tchouameni can play with the fire that made him stand up to Fede Valverde at the end of the season, then Real Madrid really could be the best team in La Liga again.
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