Manchester United’s midfield rebuild is starting to look like a shopping spree, but the next item on the list might come with a price tag that gives even INEOS pause.
Spanish journalist Miguel Serrano reports that Real Madrid has set an asking price of €180 million (roughly $195 million at current rates) for defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. That number isn’t a negotiation opening. It’s a wall.
Real Madrid doesn’t want to sell. New manager Jose Mourinho has already made that clear. The club’s message to Manchester United, according to Serrano, is: pay a record-breaking fee or don’t bother calling.
Why United Keeps Coming Back to Tchouameni
United already has two midfielders locked in for this summer. Ederson Silva is coming from Atalanta in a deal that’s been done for months. Andrey Santos arrives from Chelsea for £50 million, announced Wednesday. That’s two new bodies for a midfield that lost Casemiro and has Manuel Ugarte out with a long-term injury.
But Michael Carrick’s team is back in the Champions League next season. The Premier League title race looks more open than it has in years. So United is considering a third midfielder, and Tchouameni is the name that keeps surfacing.
Fabrizio Romano has called Tchouameni a dream signing for United multiple times. He’s also pointed out two problems: the salary and Madrid’s refusal to budge. Tchouameni is the only pure senior defensive midfielder in Madrid’s squad right now. Mourinho wants him around.
The Casemiro Comparison
AS journalist Jose Felix Diaz made an interesting connection on Ruben Martin’s YouTube channel. He said United has already offered Tchouameni a five-year contract, and the player hasn’t rejected it. Then Diaz compared it to the Casemiro and Raphael Varane deals.
Both of those players left Real Madrid for Old Trafford. Both were established starters at the Bernabeu. The difference this time might be money. Diaz said United’s problem is that Tchouameni earns a lot — more than INEOS can match in straight salary. So they’ve offered a five-year deal to spread the payments out.
Tchouameni, according to Diaz, values the seriousness of a team willing to pay upfront. That sounds like a club trying to structure a creative financial package for a player Madrid doesn’t want to sell.
Real Madrid’s most expensive sale ever is Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus for €117 million in 2018. The Tchouameni price would smash that record by over €60 million. Madrid isn’t pricing him to move. They’re pricing him to stay.
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