Casemiro, during almost a decade at Real Madrid, won no fewer than 19 trophies. Among them were five Champions League crowns, and three La Liga titles. Alongside Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, he engraved his name into the history books as one third of arguably the greatest central midfield trio of all time.
That some are calling Aurelien Tchouameni an upgrade on Casemiro, then, is about as big a compliment any young deep-lying midfielder could hope to receive.
Signed from Monaco in a £72 million deal over the summer; Tchouemeni has not only stepped into Casemiro’s shoes at the base of the Real Madrid midfield, he has also given Carlo Ancelotti’s reigning European champions a different dimension altogether.
Casemiro’s reputation as a player superb without the ball and not so good with it is more than a little unfair. As Manchester United fans will tell you, he can certainly ping a 60 yard diagonal when he wants to.
Tchouameni, however, is both a destroyer and a distributor rolled into a rangy 6ft 2ins frame. His near-faultless performance during France’s 4-1 World Cup victory over Australia on Tuesday night highlighted both sides of Tchouameni’s game; the supreme positional awareness and the diligence out of possession, coupled with his ability to orchestrate proceedings with the ball at his feet.
Kylian Mbappe remains France’s swaggering frontman, but it’s Tchouameni who lays down the beats.
Aurelien Tchouameni shows Liverpool what they’re missing as France beat Australia
None of France’s starters completed a larger percentage of their passes (96 per cent). No one mustred more interceptions either (three). And only Adrien Rabiot ended the game with more tackles under his belt (five, WhoScored).
Talk about the complete midfield performance.
“He effortlessly glides across the surface” former England international Danny Murphy said during commentary duty for the BBC. “He spots danger so well. And he can play.”
In the build up to France’s meeting with Australia, Tchouameni allowed us a brief peak behind the curtain; explaining his decision to chose Real Madrid amid rival interest from Premier League giants Liverpool.
“The first to come forward was Liverpool. We had discussions,” Tchouameni told Le Parisien . “Then Real arrived. And, in my head, everything was clear. It was Real and not another. It’s the biggest club in the world.”
The irony being, of course, that as Tchouameni settled imminently in the Spanish capital and had Los Blancos fans crying ‘Case-who?’, Liverpool have looked like a team crying out for the Frenchman’s unique blend of guile and grit.
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