(Football news) Real Madrid have officially announced the signing of Aurélien Tchouaméni. The midfielder has signed a 6 year deal with Los Blancos who paid a reported €80 million plus €20 million add-ons. The Frenchman is the 2nd player the Merengues have signed in this transfer window and it will definitely not be the last. Tchouaméni outright rejected Liverpool and PSG despite the best efforts from Jurgen Klopp and Kylian Mbappe because he only wanted Real Madrid. 

According to reliable reports, Carlo Ancelotti personally called Tchouaméni to explain his role in the team and convince him to choose Madrid. Real Madrid's legendary midfield trio of Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Casemiro are still going strong while youngsters Fede Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga have also been excellent whenever called upon. Getting into PSG and Liverpool's midfield would be much easier for Tchouaméni which means that Ancelotti has definitely promised the 22-year-old significant minutes in a specific role. Real Madrid are slowly but surely working at the transition away from Kroos, Casemiro and Modric.

Tchouaméni is a proper number 6 defensive midfielder and a direct replacement for Casemiro. Real Madrid have been playing Kroos, Camavinga and Valverde in Casemiro's absence in the number 6 role but Tchouaméni is now an option as he also provides a solution to a problem Real Madrid has had for a while now. Whenever Madrid comes up against attacking teams where the forwards cut inside and the full backs overlap they tend to struggle. The UCL tie against Manchester City is the perfect example. The reason is that Casemiro gets overcrowded and when the fullbacks do come to help, a lot of space is left on the flanks. Kroos and Modric don't have the strength and defensive instinct even when they do accompany Casemiro in a double pivot.

Now that Tchouaméni is here Real Madrid can always deploy a double pivot against teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City, PSG and Valencia. Casemiro and Tchouaméni may not play a lot of games together because it will make the midfield starve for creativity but when they do it will be destructive. The inclusion of Antonio Rudiger and Tchouaméni will definitely strengthen the Real Madrid squad for next season. One aspect which Tchouaméni will have to work on is his ball carrying and passing which is where training with the likes of Modric and Kroos will help.

There has been a lot of talk about the price tag which will definitely put some pressure on him but having played quite a few games for France, Tchouaméni can deal with it. It will be interesting to see how much game time Tchouaméni actually gets in the first season because Casemiro is still on top of his game.

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