Almost a year after Real Madrid‘s interest in Aurelien Tchouameni emerged, Los Blancos chief scout Juni Calafat travelled to Monaco to hold discussions with the player’s representatives over a potential deal.
Although last year Monaco were asking for around 60 million euros for the 22-year-old midfielder, the Ligue 1 club have now set his price tag at between 80 and 100 million euros.
Despite not being part of the France squad for the 2020 European Championship, Tchouameni made his official international debut last September in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina before playing the full 90 minutes in the UEFA Nations League final against Spain.
Didier Deschamps placed his confidence in the young defensive midfielder and called him up again for France’s two games in November’s international break.
Meanwhile, Transfermarkt values him at 40m euros, but Monaco are asking double that figure as they are aware that Real Madrid are in search of a player who can gradually replace Casemiro and Tchouameni seems to be an ideal candidate.
The Frenchman was named UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 2020/21, when he missed one game due to suspension and came off the bench just once.
Tchouameni had already attracted interest from various European clubs back in 2018 when he plied his trade at Bordeaux.
Chelsea and Manchester United seem to be leading the race to sign the French midfielder, with the Blues having already made contact with his agent Jonathan Kebe, who also represents Jules Kounde.
Paris Saint-Germain are also interested in signing Tchouameni, but they have now focused all their efforts on landing Paul Pogba on a free transfer in summer.
Meanwhile, before flying out to Monaco, Calafat had just returned from Brazil where he watched transfer target Endrick winning the Copinha trophy with Palmeiras.
Striking a deal to sign Tchouameni is not an easy task for Los Blancos, as the Frenchman’s contract runs until 2024 and Monaco are not in such a rush to cash in on him despite the player’s desire to try his luck elsewhere.
“Despite being so young, he is already a great player,” said Monaco sporting director Paul Mitchell back in December.
“If we want to be among the best clubs, we shouldn’t sell him. We are ambitious and we will analyse the situation at the end of the season.
“He has a contract until 2024 and the value of a top-level footballer. Everything is expensive in Monte Carlo. Let’s say that Tchouamni is as expensive as the Grand Casino of Monaco.”
Back in November, Tchouameni commented on MARCA’s cover about Real Madrid’s potential interest in him.
“I have goals, dreams, to play for the best clubs in the world,” he told France Football.
“I went on Twitter because my father woke me up and, yes, it’s fine, but the MARCA cover is not going to make me play better.”
