Real Madrid Would Be Making a Catastrophic Mistake by Letting Tchouameni Go

Real Madrid's summer overhaul is already well underway.

The appointment of José Mourinho came on the heels of Florentino Pérez's re-election as club president, while the signings of Marc Cucurella, Ibrahima Konaté, Bernardo Silva and Denzel Dumfries have been officially confirmed, with further additions anticipated.

Following two trophy-less and humiliating campaigns, Pérez is taking an aggressive stance in the transfer market and has pledged to keep attracting the planet's elite talent to the Bernabéu. Mourinho is reportedly targeting another central defender, a creative midfielder, and potentially a utility striker in the mold of Joselu. Pérez, true to form, has hinted at more "Galácticos."

All of this comes at a significant financial cost, however, and reports suggest Real Madrid will need to generate funds to keep their accounts in order.

Dani Ceballos, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba have already departed on free transfers, while the rights to Nico Paz were sold to Como as part of an intricate deal designed to bring in revenue. Sell-on clauses for players such as Víctor Muñoz, who completed a move from Osasuna to Liverpool, also contribute to the coffers, but there is growing speculation that Madrid are weighing up one major sale this summer to help fund their outgoings.

Why Are Real Madrid Considering Tchouaméni Sale?

AS reports that Real Madrid's anticipated spending will surpass €100 million ($115 million), and the club is open to offloading a key first-team player for a comparable fee.

Raúl Asencio, Fran García and even Eduardo Camavinga have all been mentioned as potential departures this window, but none would command fees in that range. The most plausible candidate is Aurélien Tchouaméni, with SPORT and several other outlets indicating that the French international is being lined up as the headline sale of the summer.

Tchouaméni has no shortage of suitors. Heavily pursued by Liverpool before his move to Madrid in 2022, Manchester United's long-standing interest in the 26-year-old is widely documented, and other clubs may well be ready to enter a bidding war for one of football's most prominent defensive midfielders.

Offloading Tchouaméni would also draw a line under an awkward episode at the club, after the Frenchman was handed a €500,000 ($570,000) fine late last season for his involvement in a training-ground altercation with Federico Valverde, who required hospital treatment. Valverde, who was also fined, is set to take over the captaincy this season and, while both players have downplayed the incident, the atmosphere at Valdebebas will be closely watched when pre-season gets underway.

Selling Tchouaméni Would Leave Madrid Short in Key Area

The argument for letting Tchouaméni go is straightforward enough. A net gain of over €100 million to reinvest in other areas of the squad, while also potentially clearing the air in training. Yet the reality is that his departure would likely create more problems than it solves.

Much attention has been directed toward Real Madrid's ongoing pursuit of a deep-lying creative midfielder to fill the void left by club icons Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić. The club recently issued a statement denying any interest in Chelsea's £120 million-valued Enzo Fernández, despite persistent speculation linking him to the Bernabéu.

Should Madrid sell Tchouaméni in order to invest heavily in a more attack-minded midfielder, they would be solving one problem while simultaneously creating another.

Whatever his perceived shortcomings, Tchouaméni is a world-class defensive midfielder and—critically—the only dedicated specialist in that role within Madrid's first-team squad.

Camavinga filled in as Los Blancos' deepest midfielder on occasion during 2025–26, but he is not a natural holding player and his performances in that role have been underwhelming of late. Eighteen-year-old Thiago Pitarch showed encouraging signs after being called up from the B team under Álvaro Arbeloa, but asking him to be a reliable starter next season at a club with major ambitions both domestically and in Europe would be premature.

Mourinho's favored 4–2–3–1 formation places enormous importance on the holding midfield role, requiring a player with Tchouaméni's defensive profile to partner someone capable of sharing defensive duties while also linking play to the attack—whether that be Valverde, Camavinga, Silva or a new recruit.

Madrid might manage without a dedicated defensive midfielder in certain La Liga fixtures, but against stronger opposition they are likely to look unbalanced and exposed.

Tchouaméni—like many of his teammates—may have endured a 2025–26 season to forget, yet no other Madrid player registered more tackles, interceptions or accurate short passes in La Liga that campaign. Only Dean Huijsen surpassed him in blocked shots.

Shades of Makélélé

Real Madrid have a cautionary tale from their own history to reflect on. In 2003, Pérez sanctioned the sale of another understated French defensive midfielder, Claude Makélélé, to Chelsea for £16.8 million ($22.5 million)—a decision that has since become one of football's most notorious transfer blunders.

Makélélé became the engine room of the Blues, described by manager Claudio Ranieri as the team's "battery," and went on to claim two Premier League titles among numerous other honours, while helping to redefine the holding midfield role so profoundly that it now bears his name.

Madrid, by contrast, went four years without a league title and floundered in Europe, lacking the defensive anchor needed to balance the attacking firepower Pérez had assembled.

Zinedine Zidane's reaction to the Makélélé sale produced one of football's most memorable quotes: "Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"

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Fernando Hierro called the sale "the beginning of the end for Los Galácticos."

Tchouaméni may not quite match his compatriot's legacy, but he is undeniably an elite performer in his position. Without a concrete plan to cover his absence, Madrid risk making the same costly mistake all over again.