Why Barcelona opted against signing Real Madrid’s Aurélien Tchouaméni | OneFootball

Aurélien Tchouaméni (24) has asserted himself as a fixture in the midfield, both for Real Madrid and for the France national team, even wearing the captain’s armband for the latter earlier this year.

However, things may have panned out a lot differently for the midfielder, who whilst he was at AS Monaco, may have in fact ended up at La Liga rivals Barcelona. Tchouaméni joined Real Madrid from the Principality club back in 2022 for a substantial €80m fee.

But before that, he could have already been wearing the red and blue of Barcelona, had it not been for a scouting report that dissuaded the Catalan club from making a move from the Frenchman. Speaking to SER Catalunya, Bojan Krkic senior, who at the time was working in the recruitment department at Barcelona, revealed that he highlighted a weakness in Tchouaméni’s game that ultimately saw the Catalans opt out of making their move.

“I went to see him two or three times (in 2020), against PSG and Marseille. In my reports, I always put the same things: he is strong, aggressive in his marking, sometimes excessive but he has little creativity,” which in the words of Krkic, meant that Tchouaméni “wasn’t made for a big club”. He has gone on to prove him wrong.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle