Manchester United’s summer midfield rebuild has been a mess so far. They lost Casemiro at the end of last season, watched Elliot Anderson go to Manchester City, saw Mateus Fernandes pick Tottenham, and ended up with Andrey Santos from Chelsea — a kid who barely played at Stamford Bridge. They even had a deal for Atalanta’s Ederson and walked away. Now they’re reportedly closing in on Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, which is fine but not exactly the kind of signing that makes you think they fixed the problem.
What they really need is a destroyer. A guy who can lock down the middle of the park. And for a few weeks this summer, it looked like they might actually go get one of the best in the world: Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni.
The Tchouameni situation is more complicated than it looks
Reports out of Spain said the Frenchman was about to sign a new deal with Real Madrid, which would basically end any hope United had. And yeah, that part seems true — Tchouameni is expected to put pen to paper on an extension. But according to journalist Andy Mitten, who spoke on The Athletic‘s Talk of the Devils podcast, that doesn’t mean the door is slammed shut.
Mitten said he checked in with a contact in Madrid after news of the contract broke. The response? “They could still sell him.”
Let that sit for a second. A player signs a new deal, and the club might still move him. That’s not how it usually works, but this is Real Madrid we’re talking about. They do things differently.
Real Madrid needs cash to buy big
Here’s the part that actually makes this interesting. Madrid wants to spend big this summer. Like, really big. And to do that, they need to sell someone who brings in serious money. According to Mitten, Fede Valverde has been told he’s going to be the next captain, so he’s off the table. Eduardo Camavinga wouldn’t fetch enough. That leaves Tchouameni as the most obvious candidate — a 26-year-old World Cup winner in his prime, currently valued around €120 million.
United actually offered that number last week, by the way. Madrid turned it down. But that doesn’t mean they won’t come back to the table if they need to raise funds for their own targets.
Mitten put it bluntly: “Real Madrid want to buy big, so they need to sell big. Who do they sell who they can get big money for?” He also noted that Tchouameni is happy in Madrid, but if things change, he’d be open to playing for United. That’s about as honest as these things get.
What are the actual chances here?
Mitten said it himself: it looks improbable. It always looked improbable. But he also refused to rule it out completely until the window closes. Money dictates a lot in football, and if Real Madrid decides it needs €120 million to land whoever they’re chasing, Tchouameni could be the one packing his bags.
For United, adding him would be an instant transformation. He’s that good. But can they really convince Real Madrid to let go of one of their most important players in the middle of his prime? That’s the question nobody has answered yet.
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