Real Madrid are one step away from completing the signing of Aurelien Tchouameni from Monaco.
The Athletic’s David Ornstein has just reported that the Spanish club have reached a “verbal agreement” with Monaco over the transfer, meaning that various Whatsapps have been exchanged hammering out the meat of the deal, and it just has to be written up in legalese to be signed off.
It’s a huge blow for Chelsea who have long watched the France midfielder as an alternative to the mega money signing of Declan Rice.
🚨 EXCL: Real Madrid have reached verbal agreement with Monaco to sign France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni in package worth over €100m. Clubs finalising paperwork + regulatory process before signing & official confirmation @TheAthleticUK #RMFC #ASmonaco https://t.co/QtFyvFNZSt
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) June 7, 2022
We were heavily linked with him last summer, when his price was closer to €40m than €100m, but decided he wasn’t ready and went for a loan move for Saul Niguez instead.
What a horrific error that could turn out to be if Tchouameni turns out to be as good as he looks like he could be. By now he would have had a year under his belt developing behind our current central midfield crop, and selling Jorginho would now be an easy move to offset his cost.



