According to Luis Alberto López of Defensa Central, Liverpool and Chelsea had bids for Aurelien Tchouameni rejected by Real Madrid this summer. Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Newcastle United were also credited with an interest.
The 23-year-old joined from AS Monaco for €100m (£86m) in 2022 and was a regular in his debut season at the Santiago Bernabeu, so Real president Florentino Pérez had no intention of letting him go.
Liverpool have bolstered their midfield with the signing of Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion, but Jurgen Klopp have lost more players from the engine room than the Reds have brought in.
Not only have Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner been released this summer, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho have been linked with moves away, so Klopp could do with more than Mac Allister.
That’s where Tchouameni came in. Liverpool gave up on the idea of signing Jude Bellingham long before Real brought him to Spain, so the French international was considered as an alternate option.
Tchouameni would be third in Liverpool’s squad for tackles (1.9 per game), first for interceptions (1.5 per game) and first for passing accuracy (93.5%), so it’s easy to see why they were keen. But after making 50 appearances in 2022/23, Real obviously weren’t ever going to sell him.
Chelsea also had a midfield exodus this summer with Mason Mount being sold to Manchester United, Mateo Kovacic being sold to Manchester City, Ruben Loftus-Cheek being sold to AC Milan, N’Golo Kanté leaving to join Ittihad Club and Tiemoué Bakayoko being released, so they need at least one player coming in the opposite direction.
Mauricio Pochettino has Enzo Fernández (age 22) and Conor Gallagher (age 23) as his most senior midfielders in the first-team, so Tchouaméni would greatly improve the squad while being an option for many years. But the Blues were barking up the wrong tree trying to sign an important player for Real, so they’ll also have to turn their attention elsewhere.
