Manchester United's Pursuit of Aurélien Tchouameni Continues
Manchester United refuse to give up on Aurélien Tchouameni – even now.
The France midfielder has just agreed a new deal with Real Madrid running to 2031, a contract that looked like the final word on one of United’s longest-running transfer fantasies. Yet behind the scenes, the story is not quite closed.
A dream target who won’t go away
Michael Carrick has already seen two significant pieces added to his midfield this summer. Andrey Santos has arrived from Chelsea, while United have activated the £45 million release clause in Youri Tielemans’ Aston Villa contract.
That should be the engine room largely rebuilt. It isn’t. Not in the eyes of INEOS.
Tchouameni has been the dream for United’s new powerbrokers, with Fabrizio Romano repeatedly describing the 26-year-old as the ideal signing for the club’s hierarchy. You can see why. He is anchoring France at the 2026 World Cup, one of the standout defensive midfielders on the planet, already a LaLiga and Champions League winner with Madrid, a UEFA Nations League champion and a World Cup finalist in 2022.
This summer he could add the 2026 World Cup itself, with Les Bleus already into the semi‑finals. His stock has rarely been higher.
Which is why the news last week of a fresh Madrid contract until 2031 seemed to slam the door shut.
“They could still sell him”
It hasn’t. Not entirely.
Andy Mitten, a well-connected journalist who has chronicled United for decades, revealed on the Talk of the Devils podcast that the situation is more nuanced than a simple “not for sale” stance.
Mitten relayed a message he received from a contact in Madrid after the contract announcement: “They could still sell him.” The line was clear enough that he read it out verbatim.
The extension, then, looks as much like good business as it does a declaration of love. The player has been rewarded. Real Madrid have protected their asset. Both sides win.
It also fits a familiar pattern. As Mitten pointed out, this is not the first time a Real Madrid player has benefitted from Manchester United’s interest, whether through a pay rise, a new deal, or a strengthened position inside the Bernabéu.
United’s admiration for Tchouameni is no secret. “Look, Utd were interested in him, as you would be, because he’s very good,” Mitten said. For now, the midfielder is “perfectly happy in Madrid”. But Mitten added that if the picture changed, Tchouameni “would be perfectly happy to play for Manchester United.”
Madrid’s need to “sell big”
The real tension lies in Madrid’s wider strategy.
Speaking to contacts following the Spanish national team – many of them in the United States with France and Spain this summer – Mitten was told that Real Madrid “want to buy big, so they need to sell big.”
That question hangs over their squad: who brings in the kind of fee that funds another galáctico move?
Fede Valverde has been told he is in line to become captain, a clear statement of his importance. As Mitten joked, if Valverde doesn’t fancy the armband, Old Trafford would welcome him too. Eduardo Camavinga, highly rated though he is, would not command the same level of fee.
Tchouameni, by contrast, sits in that bracket: elite, in his prime, and now locked into a long contract that strengthens Madrid’s hand in any negotiation.
So when the new deal flashed across social media, many took it as the end of United’s chase. Mitten never quite bought that. “I wasn’t quite so sure that you can write off any deal until the transfer window has closed,” he said.
Improbable, not impossible
No one around United is dressing this up as likely. When asked directly whether there is a chance, Mitten did not sugar-coat it: “It looks improbable. I think it always looked improbable.”
The only opening, as he framed it, comes if Madrid decide they must sacrifice one of their best players to raise serious money. If that moment arrives, economics will take over. “Money dictates a lot of things in football,” he said.
For now, Carrick works with what he has: Santos bedding in, Tielemans on board, and the search for one more midfielder ongoing.
The dream, though, is still out there – a 26-year-old World Cup star in white, potentially available if Madrid’s next big idea demands a big sale. And if that decision ever lands on the Bernabéu boardroom table, do United finally get the midfielder they’ve been chasing for years, or does he become just another name on a long list of almost-signings that define an era?
