Aurélien Tchouaméni gives Liverpool an answer ahead of the transfer window, according to reports. He will leave AS Monaco this summer.
This comes from the Liverpool Echo. They claim that Aurélien Tchouméni has rejected a move to Liverpool in the summer transfer window. He’ll instead move to their Champions League final opponents, Real Madrid.
Reports in France earlier on Sunday claimed that Tchouaméni had agreed terms with both clubs and would decide between the two over the next few days. The Echo believes that his agents have informed Liverpool that they won’t get him, however.
Tchouaméni is firmly expected to leave AS Monaco this summer. There is a question of the fee, however, with Monaco wanting over £60m to sell their star asset.
We thought this might happen once rumours gathered that Kylian Mbappé would remain in Paris and reject Real. They’d need to save face with a big transfer and we believe Tchouaméni is that. The fact that they’ve convinced him tells us that Real moved pretty quickly after that rejection from his compatriot.
This is a blow to Liverpool, then. Tchouaméni is an outstanding player and one who could have improved the depth at Liverpool considerably. The Reds could have used him as a double-pivot – as Jurgen Klopp likes to say – with Fabinho or simply used him as the long-term successor to the Brazilian.
Instead, they’ll have to look elsewhere, it seems. But that’s not to say there aren’t options. Reports in the Netherlands suggest Liverpool have been looking at Ibrahim Sangaré and we think he’d be a wonderful addition.
He always looked like a potential alternative to Tchouaméno – now he can be exactly that. This is a blow but not a disaster. Liverpool will find a way around it as they always do.
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