Izuchukwu Okosi
The possibility of Arsenal poaching Real Madrid midifeld star Aurelien Tchouameni has been played down by transfer next expert, Fabrizio Romano.
Arsenal have been linked with the France international due to the constant injury setbacks suffered by Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey and the likely departure of Jorginho next summer at the end of his contract at the club.
However, Romano while writing in his Caughtoffside column, has poured cold water on the deal ever happening, insisting that Tchouameni is happy at Real Madrid.
“Thomas Partey’s recent injury is a blow for Arsenal, and we are perhaps unsurprisingly seeing some stories come up as a result of this, with links to new midfielders who could perhaps replace Partey.”
“Still, my understanding for now is that Arsenal have not decided anything yet about a new midfielder, and there’s nothing to the links with Aurelian Tchouameni – no talks, no proposals, or anything like that.”
Romano who has called correctly many transfer deals understands why the talented midfielder would be linked to the Premier League.
“It’s also important to note that Tchouameni loves Real Madrid and they love him, so at the moment there’s nothing at all. He’s a top player and I’m sure he could have a big future at Real Madrid, even if it makes sense that we’re often likely to see links between him and other big clubs in the Premier League.”
Tchouameni is rated at €80 million albeit remains an integral part of manager Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid squad hoping to reclaim their La Liga tirek from the hands of Barcelona who they defeated 2-1 in the El Classico last weekend.
Besides having constant injury issues, Partey is expected to be in Ghana’s squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivorie holding between January and February 2024.
The Gunners will also likely lose Egypt’s Mohamed Elneny who is back from his long spell from an injury.
To further compound the risk of losing key personnel, Takehiro Tomiyasu will represent Japan at the Asian Games in January emphasising the need frp reinforcements by Mikel Arteta and Sporting Director, Edu.
Arsenal’s next Premier League game is against Newcastle United on Saturday evening at 5pm Nigerian time.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
