Real Madrid are beginning to lose patience with Aurélien Tchouaméni. The French midfielder, who landed at the Santiago Bernabéu two seasons ago in a deal valued at 80 million euros plus variables that could raise his price to 100 million, is not offering the performance expected by the Merengues after his arrival from AS Monaco and has been one of the main targets for the poor play of the white team in the first two days of LaLiga 24/25.
In the games against Mallorca and Valladolid, the Frenchman has not been able to gravitate in the axis of the midfield. As a pivot, the footballer is leaving more shadows than lights, leaving much to be desired in a key position for the play of Carlo Ancelotti's squad. The Viking fans blame the Rouen native for the fact that when the team has the ball, he is comfortable, but when it comes to running and stopping the rival, he disappears from the field.
As of today, Aurélien is the only pure central midfielder present in the first team of the Merengues. Eduardo Camavinga is also in the squad, but the player suffered a sprain in his left knee and will be out for a couple more weeks. Federico Valverde can also play in this area of the field, but the Madrid team loses verticality and presence in the opposition's half with the Uruguayan playing as the team's mainstay.
In the preseason, 'Carletto' tested Modric and Mario Martín in this position, while against Valladolid he tested the Valverde-Tchouaméni duo, although he only lasted the first 45 minutes. The absence of Kroos is the key to the problems in the position, since the German moved like a 'fish in water' in this area of the field, especially on an offensive level, since the historic '8' was in charge of bringing the ball out from behind and managing the pace of the games.
Ancelotti's dilemma
Carlo Ancelotti has a dilemma with Aurélien, as the Italian coach prefers the Frenchman as a centre-back rather than a midfielder. The player accepts this condition and last season he already played several games in the centre of defence, although he made sure to remind everyone every time he had the opportunity that his natural position is in midfield and not defence. However, his poor performance could lead the Madrid coach to take drastic decisions.