After Monaco became the latest side to expose the cracks in the fragile, Faberge Egg football club otherwise known as Paris Saint-Germain, a video montage of Aurelien Tchouameni’s display in that thumping 3-0 win went viral on Twitter.
Those merely on nodding terms with top-level football may wonder why.
After all, it’s not as if Tchouameni did anything massively special on Sunday afternoon. Yes, he broke up play effectively, keeping the ball moving with his accurate slide-rule passing. But there was none of the flamboyance, the frills or thrills that often turns budding footballers into social media sensations.
Though to criticise Tchouameni for a shortage of pizzaz would be to miss the point entirely. There’s a reason why Manchester United, Real Madrid, Manchester City and PSG themselves have shown an interest in Monaco’s France international.
There’s a reason why, according to Marca, Liverpool have identified Tchouameni as the £50 million missing piece in Jurgen Klopp’s quadruple-chasing side.
Sometimes, there’s beauty in simplicity. And no one epitomises that quite like Tchouameni.
Is Aurelien Tchouameni Liverpool’s missing piece?
Against PSG – against Leonardo Paredes, the masterful Marco Verratti and former Anfield favourite Gini Wijnaldum – control was key. Composure a must.
And Tchouameni has both attributes in abundance. His performance was a master in control and composure. Maintaining possession under pressure, linking the play with his clever movement and intelligent vision, breaking up opposition attacks before setting Monaco away on the counter.
One of Tchouameni’s trademark, destabilising passes out to the flank laid the foundations for Monaco’s first-half opener, slammed in by the evergreen, ever-ruthless Wissam Ben Yedder.
In Jordan Henderson and Thiago Alcantara, Liverpool already have two midfielders who have made careers out of doing the simple things but doing them brilliantly well.
Should Tchouameni join them at Anfield, he need not worry about his influence going unnoticed.
“After the last games, I questioned myself,” Tchouameni admits after he and Monaco rediscovered their form at the perfect time.
“Today we found some benchmarks and that made our game much smoother. This bodes well for the future.”
Whether Tchouameni has a ‘future’ at Monaco, beyond this season, remains to be seen.
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