Aurélien Tchouaméni (born 27 January 2000 in Rouen) is a French midfielder for Real Madrid, where he wears the number 14. A 6ft 2in, right-footed defensive midfielder of Cameroonian descent, he joined from AS Monaco in the summer of 2022 for around 80 million euros plus add-ons, one of the most expensive signings in the club's history, and has since won the Champions League and LaLiga in 2024, among other trophies. With France he was a World Cup runner-up in Qatar 2022 and a Nations League winner in 2021.
Bordeaux beginnings
Born in Rouen, he joined the Girondins de Bordeaux academy as a boy and stood out early for his ball control, distribution and a reading of the game unusual at youth level. He spent 2017-18 with the reserve side (14 games and two goals in National 3) and on 12 August 2018, aged 18 and with Gustavo Poyet in charge, made his Ligue 1 debut in a 2-0 home defeat to Strasbourg. That season brought 10 league appearances and nine in the Europa League, with a goal, and his ability to intercept passes, win the ball back and start attacks made him a fixture in the Bordeaux midfield: 18 league games in 2019-20 before the winter window.
The move to Monaco
AS Monaco, a club with a record of launching young talent, paid 18 million euros for him in January 2020. The question was whether a 20-year-old from a smaller club would find a place in the Principality; he answered it within his first few minutes and in 2020-21 started all 36 of his league games, scoring twice with four assists, in a season in which Monaco finished third and lost the Coupe de France final. In 2021-22 he played 35 Ligue 1 matches (three goals, two assists), made his Champions League debut with a goal in the qualifying rounds and featured seven times in the Europa League.
France
His form at Monaco earned a call-up from Didier Deschamps and he made his France debut in September 2021, after coming through the under-17, under-19 and under-21 sides. In a midfield that held Pogba, Kanté and Rabiot he carved out a place quickly: a month later he won the Nations League in the final against Spain, and at the World Cup in Qatar he started all seven matches, scoring against England in the quarter-final, on the way to the final defeat to Argentina. He started all five games at Euro 2024 up to the semi-final and played four full matches with an assist at the 2026 World Cup. He wears the number 8 for Les Bleus.
The Real Madrid signing
His prominence for Monaco and France drew Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Real Madrid into the bidding. Madrid, then 14-time European champions, had spent years looking for a natural successor to Casemiro without any candidate convincing them, and the player chose Madrid: the 80-million transfer was completed in June 2022 and two months later Casemiro left for Manchester United. He met the challenge of a new league and the demands of the Bernabéu by providing balance between defence and attack and managing the tempo with a maturity beyond his 22 years.
Real Madrid: trophies and a change of role
His first season, 2022-23, ended with three trophies: the UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt, the Club World Cup in Morocco and the Copa del Rey against Osasuna, with 33 league and 10 Champions League appearances. In 2023-24, under Carlo Ancelotti, Éder Militão's injury forced him to play several months at centre-back before returning to the pivot role; he finished with 27 league games and three goals, the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona and the league and Champions League double, although a stress fracture in his foot kept him out of the Wembley final.
The 2024-25 season was his heaviest workload: 32 league games (31 starts), 11 in the Champions League and five in the Copa del Rey (two goals, one assist). He lifted the UEFA Super Cup against Atalanta and the Intercontinental Cup against Pachuca, but Madrid lost the league, the cup and the Super Cup to Barcelona. In 2025-26, Xabi Alonso's first season in charge, he was restored as the first-choice holding midfielder: 33 league games and 13 in the Champions League, with a goal in each competition, in a campaign that ended with Madrid runners-up in the league and the Super Cup.
Playing style
His natural position is defensive midfield, the pivot in front of the back four who shields the two number eights, but his game goes further: he is a box-to-box midfielder able to cover almost the whole pitch on the strength of his conditioning, which places him closer to an all-round midfielder than to a purely positional anchor. To his frame he adds an accurate right foot in the long pass; he wins aerial duels, intercepts through his reading of the game, wins the ball back with ease and sustains build-up play with pass completion above 90 per cent in European competition. That versatility has allowed him to play centre-back for Madrid without losing his midfield presence.
Honours
With Real Madrid: Champions League (2023-24), LaLiga (2023-24), Copa del Rey (2022-23), Spanish Super Cup (2023-24), UEFA Super Cup (2022 and 2024), Club World Cup (2022) and Intercontinental Cup (2024). With France: Nations League (2020-21) and World Cup runner-up (2022). With Monaco he was a Coupe de France finalist in 2021.
Real Madrid