Chelsea are reportedly in the hunt to sign AS Monaco starlet Aurelien Tchouameni but face stiff competition from Juventus.
Aurelien Tchouameni, 21, came through the ranks of Bordeaux before joining AS Monaco in January 2020. The central midfielder has made 58 appearances across all competitions for AS Monaco, scoring four goals.
The youngster’s impressive performances in Ligue 1 earned him a call up to the France squad in August. He then made his international debut in the FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to Italian news outlet Calciomercato, Chelsea would need to splash around £34 million to land Monaco’s Aurelien Tchouameni next year.
The Blues paid a club-record £97.5 million to sign Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan in the summer, whilst bringing in Saul Niguez on a season-long loan from Atletico Madrid with a buy option. Lukaku has hit the ground running on his return to Stamford Bridge with four goals in six appearances across all formats.
Saul, though, hasn’t made much of an impact and was hauled off at half-time against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Aurelien Tchouameni to Chelsea – Should they make him a priority?
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel does have some top central midfielders in his squad. In N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ross Barkley and loanee Saul Niguez, the Blues aren’t in immediate need of midfield reinforcements. The talented Billy Gilmour is currently out on loan, and is expected to be a part of the first-team squad in the near future.
Chelsea and Juventus will battle for the signing of £34m Monaco star Aurelien Tchouameni with the midfielder receiving rave reviews from Cesc Fabregas and Paul Pogba, according to reports. pic.twitter.com/ruNog4c5kA
— Frank Khalid (@FrankKhalidUK) September 28, 2021
However, Kante and Jorginho will both soon turn 31 and 30 respectively and are out of contract in 2023, while Barkley’s future at Stamford Bridge remains uncertain. Regardless of how Saul performs throughout the season, Tuchel’s wish to add a midfielder to his squad is justified. In that sense, Aurelien Tchouameni would be an ideal fit at Stamford Bridge.
Primarily a defensive midfielder, Tchouameni can play as a box-to-box midfielder and dictate the tempo of the game with his passing and distribution skills. Standing at 6ft 1ins tall, the 21-year-old is a lanky, robust and tenacious midfielder who has the confidence, energy and work rate to keep things ticking for his team.
A good reader of the game, he excels at breaking the opposition’s play with his tackling and interceptions skills. The three-cap France international can drive forward with the ball, and has the vision and ability to thread in passes in the final third. All in all, the youngster has the skill-set and potential to evolve into an all-action midfielder in the future.
Kante has become injury-prone in recent years at Chelsea and even though he is not showing any signs of slowing down, the France international cannot be expected to continue performing at the same level of intensity throughout the season. Thus, Chelsea targeting Tchouameni is simply perfect, as the Monaco young gun has the required qualities to succeed Kante at Stamford Bridge.
