Fabrizio Romano says Manchester United “dream and love” Aurélien Tchouaméni, and the interest is not being treated as idle talk. The club are planning to make contact with Real Madrid to try to sign him, but the move already has two obvious obstacles, Madrid’s asking price and the salary package United would need to put together.

Real Madrid's control of the deal

The asking price is the first problem. Madrid are said to want at least €100million for Tchouaméni, with the report also putting the figure at £85.5m. He is under contract at the Bernabéu until summer 2028, so Madrid have time on their side as well as leverage.

There is also a disagreement over how open Madrid really are to selling. Romano’s read is that Madrid have not opened the door to an exit yet, while other reporting suggests the club may be willing to entertain possibilities. Those are not the same position, and the practical point is the same for United: this is still Madrid’s negotiation.

Tchouaméni wanting to stay at Estadio Bernabéu only strengthens that hand. If United push this far enough, they would be paying for both a difficult deal and a reluctant seller.

United's interest is real, but the price is not small

This is not a case of a club casually scouting a name for the summer. Romano’s line on United is clear enough, and that kind of language usually means the interest is genuine. The issue is whether the club are prepared to match a fee that starts at €100million and then deal with the wages on top.

The wider context inside United also matters. They missed out on Elliot Anderson, Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, and the recruitment process has become more data-led, with Michael Sansoni compiling longlists for each position. That points to a club working through options, not one settling early on a single target.

Andrey Santos has also been linked as part of that broader midfield search, with Chelsea's player another name in the mix alongside Alex Scott. That does not make Tchouaméni less real as a target, but it does show United are not putting all of their chips on one move.

For now, the story is simple enough. United like the player, Madrid control the terms, and the price sits at a level that makes the deal difficult before it even gets to the negotiation stage.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →